Benel Lagua l May 4, 2023 l Manila Bulletin
In our senior years, we get exposed to the reality of a finite life. The pandemic of 2020 made this very clear as contemporaries and friends left in sudden fashion. The President of our HS Student Council was leading the preparation for our golden anniversary. When the event came, he was already gone together with a few other COVID-affected classmates.
Before my day job retirement, I was spending most of my time in a flurry of activities. As a senior bank officer, there were many concerns that required constant attention on a 24-7 basis. Weekends were spent studying the bundle of credit materials for the following week’s meeting. Many things were accomplished for one’s career but looking back, important goals that mean a lot if one is to pass away suddenly may have been set aside.
In our Ateneo philosophy class, we used to talk about Heidegger’s being- towards-death philosophy. In Heidegger’s view, it is the encounter with death that most profoundly highlights the question of being. If you were in your death bed reviewing your entire life, how would you evaluate your current existence? Would you make many changes in the way you currently live?
Heidegger’s philosophy of being and time asks the individual to always have a preparedness for death which leads to authentic existence. Confronting our own finitude by resolutely accepting the reality of death can catalyze a dramatic shift in consciousness.
I thought I’d live by this precept. But as I got involved in the realities of life, the career challenges, and the rat race, I was naturally caught in the frenzy of things to do.
Today, with more conviction, Heidegger’s being-towards-death philosophy makes more sense. Here’s where a bucket list is useful. It is a list of goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and, life experiences you wish to experience before you die.
Here are quotes from former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz. “There’s never a right time to do the wrong thing and there’s never a wrong time to do the right thing… Don’t just be successful, be significant… Everyone needs four things in life, or you will have a void in your life. You need something to do, someone to love, something to believe in, and something to hope/dream for.”
A bucket list helps open up a clear perspective of what you’ve ever wanted to do. Most of our to-do list are probably in the context of work, career or a social obligation. A well thought out bucket list will provide insights on what is truly important for your life, whether it is big or small.
This is not to create a fear mentality. After all, as Christians, many of us believe in an afterlife. A bucket list will help make the most of our physical lifetime.
My bucket list is in the context of Holtz’s four items – meaningful doing, loving, believing, and hoping/dreaming. On top are things to do with family and friends, like visiting my mother in the US at least once a year and living out my faith through pilgrimages. I also continue to be “unretired”, choosing to serve in the Boards and banks that help make a difference in the lives of many. I still teach part-time. My affiliations help pursue my advocacies.
Last year, I had the chance to do the Camino de Santiago through a 150Km walk from O Cebreiro to Santiago de Compostela. I did it with my partner-in-life MaFe and dear friends from my college years in Ateneo. Recently, I joined a Holy Land Pilgrimage in Egypt, Israel and Jordan, this time with both my wife and daughter Blessie, my sister-in-law and family, and a lovely set of people we met for the first time through “Journeys of Faith.” We had two incredible chaplains, Fr. Jigs Rosalinda and Fr. Dennis Soriano who guided us in our faith reflections. It was a blessing to visit the places where Jesus walked his earthly existence.
Ultimately, we aim to move into the sunset meaningfully. A bucket list is especially needed by businesspeople and finance practitioners who are often engrossed in the pursuit of numerically defined goals. It will provide clarity in what you want in life. Life is short. Life is not what you get, but what you do with what you get while you are here.
*** (Benel Dela Paz Lagua was previously EVP and Chief Development Officer at the Development Bank of the Philippines. He is an active FINEX member and an advocate of risk-based lending for SMEs. Today, he is independent director in progressive banks and in some NGOs. The views expressed herein are his own and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX.)