The List

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Have I ever told you about the list?

Inspired several years ago by a birthday or a sense of mortality, or perhaps boredom, my list has gone through several revisions (and was nudged forward without doubt by the book "1,000 Places to See Before You Die," which is a fabulous inspiration - I only wish I was the one asked to star in the new TV series... but I digress...)

Basically, a few years ago, I started a mental list... and just over one year ago, I began a page of my journal with the following title:

~ 100 Things To Do Before I Die ~

The first thing on the list is - and always has been, even before it was committed to ink and paper - "Skydive."

I don't know why that's always been first, but it seemed to be the most random expression of what the list basically encompasses, which is a list of goals I hope to reach in life. Some of the items on the list seem, at first glance, to be quite superficial ("get fake nails")... but some are symbols of other things in life that have haunted me for a while ("donate my hair".)

Some things I've accomplished and been able to check off my list. In fact, I'm quite proud to have accomplished the first three items on the list so far:
1. Skydive
2. Get certified in SCUBA
3. Get my motorcycle license

Unfortunately, some of the items that have been on my list the longest have not been accomplished as soon as I'd hoped ("Dive with dolphins")... others are a work in progress ("Learn karate", "Go to services for different religions")... and some may never quite be accomplished to my satisfaction ("Travel", which is it's own separate list, and I doubt I'll ever reach the end of that one.)

Some are surprising insofar as I have not yet experienced them ("Skinny dip") and others are spawned by more of a morbid curiosity ("Get a Brazilian wax"). Still more will probably be crossed off before they happen due to my fickle female mindset... others have yet to be conceptualized or penned.

So far, I've checked off relatively few things on my list... not as many as I'd hoped when I added them all up. But each of them so far is a precious memory, and is something I value as an accomplishment, no matter how small. And each of the ones that are not crossed off are things I have been wanting to do for a while... the anticipation is thrilling.

There is so much more to do... and the adventures in life are just waiting to happen...

Stay tuned... I'll probably write about a few of them here....
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"A woman is the most fiendish instrument of torture ever devised to bedevil the days of man. "
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
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