The Buried Life

Last week, I had the opportunity to see the cast of the MTV show, The Buried Life, present. Before going to meet them, I had not heard of the show and had no idea what it was even about. As I waited in a line of 600 people who were going to see them, I began to wonder what was so amazing about these people that so many college students were willing to wait in line on a Friday night to watch them speak. Upon entering, I was bombarded with smiles, energy, and post-it notes. I quickly learned that the catch-phrase of the Buried Life guys was "What do you want to do before you die?". As a young lady, I have never once considered this question and I politely rejected putting my answer on a sticky note for everyone to see. I began to realize that this presentation was going to have more to offer than I was expecting. I sat down in my chair and began to ponder my answer to this question. I considered giant goals that I thought I could never accomplish and small goals I could do tomorrow, but for some reason I could not come up with my answer.

Next thing I knew, four energetic and young men walked into the room. My first thought, how in the world did these four fun guys come up with a serious question that made me sit here and question my life goals? They began speaking, telling stories, making everyone laugh, and more importantly describing how they ended up with a TV show centered around the question "what do you want to do before you die?" They shared their story of sitting down together and feeling like they were not accomplishing the things they want to do with their lives. They then wrote down a list of 100 things they want to accomplish before they die, some of them were outrageous while some of them were practical. The four guys, Ben, Jonnie, Dave, and Duncan, decided to take two weeks off in the summer, rent an RV, and travel around the world while accomplishing as many things on their list as possible.

Now hearing this part of the story, I began to question these crazy boys. They traveled the world doing all of these fun things with each other and somehow ended up with their own TV show. But, just as I questioned this, they mentioned another part to their plan, with every item they cross off of their own list, they try and help someone else cross something off of his or her own list. Then it all clicked to me, these four guys had decided that they would achieve happiness by doing amazing things for themselves and helping other people do the things that they wanted to achieve. At this point in the presentation, they shared some incredible stories of their trip. They had sneaked onto red carpet premieres to meet their celebrity crushes, helped a school get new computers, made giant donations to charities, and played basketball with the President. Along with every item they could cross off of their list, they were helping strangers they had met along the way to accomplish one of their own. They helped a father find his son, a young girl start a now nationally known organization called To Write Love On Her Arms, and so much more.

It is not very often you get to meet people who live truly inspiring lives. Although a lot of the things their list are just fun things, it is important to do the things that make you happy if you can achieve them and still help out other people. I took their bravery to drop everything and do the things they truly wanted to do as an inspiration in my life. I answered the question "what do you want to do before you die?" and I am working to cross off the items on my list. Being a part of Femi Outreach, I am surround by people who I can have the chance to help every day. From the students we work with to our office success, I have a chance to change  the lives of so many people. 

It is important to remember that no matter who you are, you can do all of the things you want to do. Stay motivated, help others, and be happy. In the end, those are the most important things in life and I am excited that I had the opportunity to see people live out this lifestyle. If you get a chance to watch The Buried Life, or have any comments, please feel free to share your thoughts with us. We really appreciate all of our readers and supporters out there, and I want to leave you all with one final thought (inspired by the boys of The Buried Life):

What do you want to do before you die?