Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Life List

I found a neat book at Barnes and Noble, 2001 Things to Do Before You Die by Dane Sherwood.  I bought two copies for Christmas presents.  Then I went back and bought the two they had left.  Some of the stuff is just silly or out of range, like "Hit a home run over the green monster at Fenway Park."  Lots of things are well within most people's limits:  "Donate blood"  "Watch an egg hatch"  "Make your own pizza" "Write a haiku"
 
A long time ago, I went to see a motivational speaker, and the main thing that stuck with me was the importance of having 100 goals.  Having only one or two goals makes a person one-dimensional, lopsided, like a washing machine that's out of balance.  Writing down 100 things you want to do/see/be and the next thing you know your life starts taking shape. 
 
So, I started a list.  I keep it in my computer.  There are a lot of things checked off:
Climb Kilmanjaro
Run a marathon
Walk around the South Pole
Float in the Dead Sea
Bungee jump
Go ocean kayaking
among many others.
 
Lots more on the list too:
Get a Guinness World Record
Run with the bulls
Climb Mt. Rainier
See the Great Wall of China
Photograph the Northern Lights
Cage dive with the great white sharks
 
Making the "Life List" has been instrumental to making my life fun, interesting, full of adventure.  Most importantly, it helps me DREAM.  Constantly having a plan, an adventure on the horizon, keeps me going through the daily minutiae and looking toward an exciting future.
 
So, pick up a copy of the book, or just start making your own list.  See what happens when you start dreaming.  You're gonna love it. 

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