Lucky 2013

As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"  This leads me to Lucky 2013.  In hindsight of 2012, I believe I spent a lot of that year bemoaning how I got to 40 instead of thinking... wow I'm ONLY 40!  I had meant to post another blog before the end of last year and long before my 41st birthday came, which happened only four days ago but now that I sit here in the silence of my house I realized I wasn't ready to write until this moment.

 

I think I've spent most of my life letting things happen to me instead of directing my ship.  Now that I am officially 41 and 4 days, I can say I don't like that, not one bit.  So with the new year, a year older, and lots of perspective I'm adding and changing my list to reflect the person I would like to become. I want to be more thoughtful, patient, insightful, helpful, generous, grateful, and appreciative on a daily bases.  I wish these things were like going on vacation where I can simply "arrive" at being "patient" but alas I can't so they will not be on the list instead just the list in my head.

When the time comes for me to leave this planet I want to go knowing that I made others life better because I was here.  So without further ado.... the new List:

1. Be an extra in a video/movie - 2001
2. Ride an Elephant - April 1998
3. Ride a Camel
4. Meet Ray Bradbury - 12/12/00
5. Get an autograph book from Ray Bradbury - 12/12/00
6. See the Mona Lisa - 03/10/12
7. Raft Down the Mississippi
8. Travel Down the Nile
9. See the Amazon - August 2000
10. Learn to Speak Japanese
11. Visit Missoula, Montana
12. Audition for a play
13. Own a tennis bracelet
14. Own a faux diamond tiara - 12/25/98
15. Visit Disney World
16. Visit Great America in California
17. See the Eiffel Tower - 03/09/02
18. Visit Capri, Italy
19. See the Tower of Pisa
20. Visit the Taj Mahal
21. Visit the Pyramids
22. Visit Washington DC - 2008
23. Go to New Orleans
24. Visit Hong Kong
25. Visit Vietnam
26. Travel to England - October 2011
27. See Big Ben - 10/26/2011
28. See Niagara Falls - April 2009
29. See Mount Rushmore
30. Visit Boston
31. Go to a Star Trek Convention
32. Go to a Democratic Convention
33. Go to the World's Fair
34. Go to the Olympics
35. Sleep in a Wigwam, Route 66, Rialto, CA - 01/01/04
36. Go on Safari
37. Visit Djibouti
38. Sing Karaoke - 09/27/97
39. Perform at a Poetry Reading - 10/07/97
40. Take a Picture w/ Vegas Sign - 2001
41. See a good Elvis Impersonator
42. Visit Australia
43. Visit Japan
44. Smoke from a Hookah - 09/22/06
45. Compete in a 5K - 10/15/06
46. Camp at Richardson Grove Park with the Family
47. Learn how to play the cello part of "All You Need is Love" and play Tarantella by W.H. Squire
48. Explain to M why he saved my life.
49. Change careers to be more social service oriented
50. Help 5 people fulfill a life goal
51. Seek and find out causes I believe in and donate my time and money to them
52. Pick one day and say yes to everything Matthew and Andrew ask me
53. Write to the 5 people who I love but can't speak the words out loud to and let them know why I love them before its too late.
54. Perform 10 random acts of kindness before the end of 2014 and keep five of them a secret.
55. Live in a city where I can take public transit as often as I would like
56. Finish reading all the books by Jack Kerouac.
57. Be a Mentor
58. ........