ill characters in `` The Bucket List '' or Queen Latifah 's supposedly terminally ill character in `` Last Holiday . '' Gamez said he tuned in every week , but he knew he wanted to live his own version of `` The Buried Life '' five minutes in to the first episode . `` If you had one day to live , what would you do ? '' a voice asks viewers during the show 's opening credits . `` Would you climb a mountain ? Would you kiss the girl of your dreams ? Would you tell someone how you feel ? Now , if you had a whole lifetime to live , would you lose that drive , or would your list just keep getting longer ? '' '' -LSB- The guys on the show -RSB- inspired me and they pushed me to -LSB- go skydiving -RSB- , '' he said . `` To see them go out with no fear and do the things they wanted to do -- it made me want to do those things , too . '' The show 's title was inspired by a 19th century Matthew Arnold poem by the
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- `` Do n't close your eyes , do n't close your eyes , '' a terrified Christopher Gamez chanted as he coasted 7,000 feet above South Padre Island , Texas , his heart racing . One by one , Gamez watched as three people were `` sucked '' out of the plane and whipped violently into the thrashing winds and mist . `` Just put your head back and breathe , '' he told himself , seconds before joining the others . But why would someone with a severe fear of heights willingly plummet from the sky ? To cross `` skydiving '' off his mental bucket list , of course . Gamez was inspired to dream up his list of goals after watching MTV 's `` The Buried Life '' , a reality TV show about four friends who set out to accomplish the tasks on their joint bucket list . The show , which wrapped its first season in March , has motivated many young adults to create such lists right now , rather than waiting until they 're about to `` kick the bucket '' like Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman 's terminally