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In the film The Bucket List, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play cancer patients who bust out of the hospital on a mission to check off all the things they want to do before they “kick the bucket.” Don’t wait until you’re laid-up on a gurney: Create your own want-to-do list! Here’s how:

If you have a couple of hours a week …

• DO THE MAMBO. Dancing With the Stars brought ballroom back in a big way. Sign up at one of the Fred Astaire Dance Studio locations across the country ($40–$75 for two private lessons, with or without a partner fredastaire.com). Or find a class near you at accessdance.com.

• SKETCH IT OUT. Find a new creative outlet at a local college or art school — most offer night and weekend classes for adults in everything from painting to pottery throwing. Try the seven-week basic drawing course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago ($318.75 saic.edu), then cajole your friends into sitting for portraits.

If you have a long weekend …

• CATCH A WAVE. After just a couple of days of instruction at one of Surf Diva’s weekend beginner clinics at La Jolla Shores, CA ($148.50 surfdiva.com), you’ll be paddling out, popping up and riding baby waves into the shore. The women-only, two-day course is offered year-round — wetsuit and board provided.

• BECOME AN ICING QUEEN. At the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, frosting guru chef Toba Garrett leads a two-day “Upscale Cupcakes” course that will have you whipping butter and sugar into miniature masterpieces ($230 iceculinary.com). No cooking school nearby? Find Wilton Method cake decorating classes nationwide at wilton.com.

If you have a week or two …

• LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE. What better way to master French verb conjugation than discussing the subtle differences between Latour and Lafite? Learn to talk the talk on a language immersion trip, like Languages Abroad’s wine tasting and French class package in the beautiful Bordeaux region of France (starting at $1,100 per week including accommodations languagesabroad.com).

• EXPLORE THE OCEAN. Book a trip to Hawaii, where you can snorkel alongside wild spinner dolphins (so named for their above-the-water acrobatics) in the open ocean. Sunlight On Water ($130 including gear sunlightonwater.com) offers four-hour trips all year long off the Kona coast on the Big Island.