There are a lot of things I want to do before I die. My “Bucket List” is quite long.
Things like European travel, book publication, and being animated are at the top, but there are a lot of little things I want to do, too.

Smaller things. Things that make the daily to-do list but don’t seem to get checked off.
I call it my “Cup List”.
Things like stopping at the cool little cemetery I pass every time I drive to or from Rockford, which is like twenty times a week. Or trying out that hot dog restaurant that gets rave reviews from diners I trust. Or finishing the book Stiff by Mary Roach that was recommended to me years ago, loaned to me a while back and even started by me. I enjoy it when I’m reading it but I don’t seem to get back often enough to finish. I’d also like to go to Noodles and Company for lunch sometime. I drive by it twenty times a week here in DeKalb. I want to submit a short story to Glimmer Train, buy my cat a new collar, and get my car detailed.

Not exactly Bucket List fodder. Nobody wants to have their mats cleaned before they die. Or maybe everyone wants to have their mats cleaned before they die, so they do it regularly, you know, just in case.

Bucket Lists are supposed to be for big things. Europe, publication, animation. But big things cost money and take time and, in a way, I think, need to be earned.

A Cup List is things you should be doing, or should have done. Moderate cost may be involved, a smidge of time, perhaps, but you don’t really need to plan or prepare for this list. You really just need to do them.

And soon.

You know that hot dog place I mentioned earlier? Closed. My fault. Because although I wanted to go there, I never did. It shall forever remain unchecked on my Cup List, a constant reminder of what I should have done. Of what I’d better do. Before it’s too late.

There are a lot of things I could add to a Bucket List that I know I’ll never live long enough to accomplish. The Cup List doesn’t need that kind of reach. There’s no pressure to complete a Masters Program, get signed by an agent, or get my husband on a plane.
It’s the stuff you want to do, that you can do, so you should do.

What “small” thing do you want to try but keep putting off?
Do it! Then tell me what you’re checking off your Cup List.
Maybe you’ll inspire me– and keep some cool restaurant open as a result.