What's on Your 'To Be' List?

     Here’s a challenge for us New Year’s Resolutionists: I asked my friend Jean Snedegar what’s on her bucket list now that she’s retired as a BBC reporter and public radio producer. What was left to do since she’s already met both the royal and the commoner at work?
     Her brow furrowed as it always does when she’s deep in thought. “For thirty years I’ve viewed myself as a journalist and broadcaster,” she said. “So instead of asking what I want to DO, I asked myself who I want to BE.”             
​     Instead of creating a “to do” list, Jean developed a “to be” list that she ticked off to me on her fingers:  An encourager; a hostess; a reader/learner/grower; a carer of a sick brother; a French and German learner; a gardener; a de-clutterer/organizer; a friend via notes, calls, emails, and visits; a God praiser; and a pray-er for others.     
     Her list surprised me because much of who she aspires to be, she already is. That’s because years before she penned her list, she set herself on a trajectory that has made her the person she yearns to be.      
​     Which makes me wonder what path I’ve stepped onto in life. Will it lead to who I want to be? Or do I need to make a right turn and veer onto a different path?