before i die

a few years ago i saw life starting to change, i felt i needed to come up with a plan, a road map, a list of things i wanted to do before it was too late. the following is the list i came up with. the list has changed over time, i have done some, i have let life push and pull me, but i have a plan.

(these are in no particular order)

1. pub crawl in dublin
2. mass at saint peters
3. fly a helicopter
4. sail across an ocean
5. be published
6. ride the orient express
7. run a marathon
8. drive across the silk road
9. swim newport to jamestown
10. give ashley away at her wedding
11. hold my first grandchild
12. own my/our house outright
13. kiss passionately on our 30th anniversary
14. cycle across the usa
15. go to mardi gras
16. jam with a band, in front of people
17. lay on a greek beach naked
18. climb the pyramids at gisa
19. order dinner in french (in france) -- done
20. run with the bulls in pampolna
21. climb kilimanjaro
22. walk on the great wall
23. write an app people know and love
24. get lifeguard certification renewed
25. surf a wave larger than 5 feet again
26. see the aurora borealis
27. scuba on the great barrier reef
28. teach
29. work everyday for the love of it
30. hold each other as one of us dies

maybe the issue i have is that roadmaps are like recipes for me. they are more of a guide to use at the start of a journey than the path to the destination. now that i have these on the list, i feel like i can do other things, because i know i won’t forget them as life moves down the road with me.

why would i be upset that i have not done these things, look at the things not on the list that i have accomplished since writing it:

(also in no particular order)

1. lead a core development team of a major .com
2. move to asia and experience a new culture; or three
3. learn just enough language skills to survive on any continent in the world
4. stand on the eiffel tower with my kids
5. see a sunrise over prague
6. see a sunset over south china sea
7. drink US$ 0.12 beers with backpackers in a former communist country
8. buy “coffee” from a café in amsterdam
9. teach E to surf
10. make sure the kids know i love them every day
11. sing flemish folk songs in a turkish/moroccan bar in belguim
12. photograph street culture in india
13. see paris blink at night; twice in 7 months
14. relax and have fun after losing $2,000 worth of train tickets
15. find a flamingo at home
16. bring a loved one back from the dead
17. swimming in halong bay during a rain storm
18. take off on a domestic flight and land in the planned location, but as an international flight
19. photograph smiles on three continents, 7 countries, in 10 days
20. build something that wouldn’t have happened without me
21. play with a little man who speaks no english but knows what i am saying
22. swim in the moonlight, after a music festival in the rainforest
23. chase my son in a triathlon, winning a friendship
24. be in my son's classroom 4 times in one year, while living 12,000 miles away
25. opening a bottle of champaign with a saber
26. leaving a bbq at 2 AM and driving until sunrise to make a flight with my best friend
27. carpe diem

who says you need to follow a roadmap to be happy. life happens one day at a time, the past years are teaching me that loving life means taking things as they come and being able to take a risk to enjoy life.