50 Things To Accomplish Before I Die
It seems we live for nothing yet life is nothing like it seems.
Sometime ago I came to the morbid conclusion that life would be a lot easier if I had a road map to success. A guideline, if you will, where I could sit back in my golden years and confidently say I did everything I’ve ever truly wanted to do. It is no easy task to live a noble life, but I figured by first defining my goals I could then begin working backwards from my list — a type of reverse engineering of life. And that’s how sometime in my early teenage years, my list of “50 Things I’d Like to Accomplish Before I Die” was born.
I will admit that throughout the years a number of items have been re-written or replaced — which only goes to show you how one changes throughout life — since what was exceptionally important to me at one time is now pretty much laughable and embarrassing. By and large, however, most of the major items have stuck around. Therefore, without further adieu, I present you my personal list in no specific order.
The List
- go sky diving
- go bungee jumping
go surfing- visit Australia
visit Texas- hit a homerun in a real baseball diamond
- go to a Laker game
- try mountain climbing
- get my M-class (motorcycle) license
- drive a Ferrari or Aston Martin around town
- learn to shift seamlessly
- fall in love, all over again. and again.
- get married
buy a houselive in an apartment- have room-mates
- show my parents how much I really appreciate them
- become a father (planned-fatherhood)
- drive my kid(s) to school
- go to a parent-teacher interview night
- give stand-up comedy a try
- learn to golf
- earn a PhD in a field of interest
- bowl 200 or more
visit Hawaii- furiously quit some job
work for Microsoft- go back and visit my old schools (Henry Munro, Trillium, etc)
- take my car to the track (and race it)
- learn to salsa, really well
- buy myself a sports car
- go scuba diving
put the huge backseat of my Highlander to good use- some sort of (romantic, or rather, memorable) engagement proposal
- visit Mexico
get a piece of work published- meet the President (whomever it may be at the time)
- take a wine appreciation class
go to Six Flags, Disneyland, Knottsberry Farm, Wonderlandsmoke a fat cuban cigar- own my own business
own a pool table- publish a novel
- devote a good portion of my spare time to volunteering
- appear on the frontpage of a national newspaper
- backpack through Europe
date a college girl- save someone’s life
- join the Libertarian Party
Where is #50, you dirty liar?
Ah.. yes.. the ever elusive number 50. I’m not sure where it went but I’m sure when it returns it’s going to be fantastic. Always keep ‘em guessing.
Relinquished Progress
As of my last update on Jan 27 2008, I have knocked off 12 of the listed 49 items. I must admit that although I have not pursued this list as aggressively as I had originally anticipated, I’m thinking that even at a modest 1 item per year pace, I should be in good shape (given that I live the average life expectancy of ~78 years).
Adieu. Navid.