Today is my 39th birthday. That gives me one year before I celebrate the most infamous milestone of midlife. And buy a corvette and get a trophy wife. Oh wait - sorry, women don't do that. Got confused for a minute.
Seems like a good time for a bit of reflection to reconnect with my friends and family, my curiosity and creativity, and my health. In that spirit, I've created my list of "Forty by Forty" - a mini bucket-list to be completed before I turn 40.
Since these need to be done in a year, they're not the grand items of a life-long bucket list. I'm not trying to see the pyramids or raft the Nile. (Hopefully those happen in the NEXT forty years.)
Because life is good. And it's often in paying attention to the little things that that we live life most fully. Here goes...
- See the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.
- Try sushi. I know, I know. I'm the only person in America who doesn't like sushi. But it's been ten years since I last attempted it, so I'm going to see if my palette has evolved.
- Attend Nerd Nite DC.
- Become a certified coach. Already enrolled, so unless I screw up, this should earn a checkmark.
- Take a "Girls Trip" with my mom and sister.
- Take an official walking tour of DC. I love walking tours. I live in a city that offers them. Why haven't I done this before? No idea.
- Find the doors at the O Street Mansion.
- Practice yoga every day for one week.
- Explore wine country with Alan. We've booked our flight, so this should get a checkmark.
- Completely avoid Diet Dew for one month. Ideally, I'd like to give it up for good. But let's start with a manageable goal.
- Get a library card to the Library of Congress.
- Sponsor one classroom project each month on DonorsChoose.
- Go Facebook-Silent for two weeks. This one already gives me palpitations, which probably means I'm addicted.
- See an exhibit at the Phillips Collection. Unbelievably, I've lived here almost two decades and haven't set foot inside this gallery, only blocks from my place.
- Make a Halloween costume.
- Find a StoryCorps booth and record a story. Ideally with my dad.
- Get professionally fitted for a bra. No sense giving in to gravity just yet.
- Get a new driver's license. Actually, this is kind of a to-do list item. But still...
- See the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
- Send one handwritten note of gratitude to someone each month.
- Record a podcast with my friends. Not sure what we'll do with it, but I'm pretty sure it will be hilarious.
- Learn to change my bike's rear tire. Although I hope I'll never need to use this.
- Write 50,000 words toward my next novel.
- Complete a Century Ride. Preferably with my sister.
- Learn why ziplines are so hyped.
- Review the books I read on Amazon. I use other people's reviews to shape my reading list - time to give back.
- Swim 50 miles. Not all at once. I used to swim all the time, but it's fallen by the wayside in recent years. Time to jump back in.
- Roast an entire chicken. Yep, I consider myself a pretty solid cook, but I've never actually cooked an entire bird. WTF?
- Compliment a stranger every day for a week. Different strangers... because otherwise that would be creepy.
- Volunteer for a cause I care about.
- Declutter my friendships. Prioritize the people who make time for me.
- Do an inversion every single day. For non-yogis: this is basically just doing something upside down. Headstand, handstand, shoulder-stand - it's supposed to be good for your lymph system and your perspective.
- Update my resume. Not because I want a new job, but to reflect on my accomplishments.
- Help Alan have a good 40th year.
- No candy for a month. Ridiculous that I'm almost forty and still think Skittles count as part of the food pyramid.
- Host a scavenger hunt.
- Break a rule. Easier said than done when you're compulsive and risk-averse.
- Provide free sales coaching to someone who tries (poorly) to try to sell me something.
- Contribute to Wikipedia. Not just in a financial sense. Edit an entry.
- Go camping. I used to do it all the time, but haven't since I got rid of my car. Time to bring it back!
What about you? If you weren't designing a life-long bucket-list, but rather had to focus on something specific to do during the next year, what would make your list? I'm curious.
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