No Time Like the Present

Recently, I was inspired to write my Life List. The things I want to do between now and ? then. I struggle to express to you how much fun it was to make this list, and not just because it is a list ? because that alone would have been fun. (Seriously, do you need me to make a list for you? Groceries? Honey Do? Anything!) It was more fun than I expected.

The concept of a Bucket List is not new, right, but there?s a fairly trendy craze among bloggers right now to write your Life List. I like the concepts of a "Life List" better than a "Bucket List". It's not about squeezing in a bunch of stuff before you die. Rather, it's about filling your life with things you've always wanted to do. Mighty Girl started the madness with her list, and it?s caught on like crazy ? BECAUSE IT?S AWESOME. Seriously.

But, admittedly, it took me a while to get on board. After reading a few items from Mighty Girl?s list, I was convinced this exercise was not for me. After all, I?ve done it. I?ve backpacked Europe. I?ve bungee jumped in Africa. I?ve seen the Eiffel Tower and the Sistine Chapel and the Berlin Wall and Buckingham Palace. I?ve ridden in a gondola and had beer in an Irish pub and thrown coins over my shoulder into the Trevi Fountain. I?ve been on safari and I?ve given birth and all the other things that are on people?s Bucket Lists. I remember thinking that it was such a lovely concept, but that I didn?t really need to participate.

But then I kept reading her list. And I decided to stop being a brat and remember that I?m all of 27 years old and that there are TONS of things I haven?t done. I have seen but a fraction of this world. I have lived but a fraction of the moments meant for me. Surely I can squeak out a Life List.

And you know what? Once I started writing things down, the ideas poured out of me. I couldn?t get them down fast enough. I was completely distracted thinking about this for two solid days before I got everything down on paper and the swirling in my head stopped.

100 things. So far, it's incomplete, but I know there are things that I?ll want to add. And I can?t wait to get started. I figure it?s safe to commit to crossing off ten items before my 30th birthday, but I secretly think I can do more like twenty.

I strongly encourage each of you to do this. Maybe you don?t tackle 100. Maybe it?s 50. Maybe you boil it down to your absolute Top 10. Maybe you focus your list on your kids ? 100 Things I Want To Do With My Kids Before They Grow Up. Whatever it is ? the idea is to get started. It?s not about having some sort of Cool Kid Resume when you die, it?s about making plans to break routine and intentionally filling your life with unforgettable moments. For me, it?s about taking inspiration from the ?cool? things I?ve already done and ensuring that I keep that adventurous spirit alive in myself. It?s about showing Colt, through my example, that life can be really, really fun. And that there?s just very little in this world that isn?t available to him.

So here?s your assignment. Start a list. Think about anything you?ve ever said ?I?ve always wanted to?? It doesn?t have to be something extreme like ?Have a picnic on the Moon?, but it?s your list ? have at it. You will have fun. I swear it. And if you?re so inclined, please send me a copy. Or post a link in a comment. Or give me some ideas to add to mine.

So without further delay:

100 Things To Do While I'm Here

1. Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef
2. See every movie ever to have won "Best Picture"
3. Visit all 50 states
4. Yell "Cut!" on a movie set
5. Sponsor a child in a foreign country
6. Fly First Class
7. Write this book that's in my head
8. Climb a mountain with my husband
9. Visit the Holy Land
10. Go frog gigging
11. Visit all 7 continents
12. Play the piano again
13. Camp in my backyard with my family
14. Take a Hot Yoga class
15. Walk on the Great Wall of China
16. Take a cheesy picture at the 4 corners
17. Pan for gold in Alaska
18. Hug a California Redwood Tree
19. Enjoy a Tahitian sunset
20. Play craps at The Monte Carlo Casino
21. Stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon
22. Hold my grandchildren
23. See the Northern Lights
24. Own a piece of furniture upholstered in animal print
25. Ride a horse on the beach
26. Stay up an entire night enjoying the company of a good friend, then watch the sunrise together
27. Go all out for a costume party
28. Experience the cherry blossoms in Japan
29. Take a nap in a hammock
30. Get another college degree
31. See the Rockettes
32. Get a New Year's kiss in Times Square
33. Own horses
34. Attend an Olympic event
35. Stand in the Oval Office
36. Be an extra in a movie
37. Buy something beautiful on 5th Avenue
38. Help deliver a baby
39. Crash a wedding
40. Build a sand castle with my son
41. See the Pyramids
42. Pick a winner at the Kentucky Derby
43. Give a toast
44. Stand inside the Taj Mahal
45. Learn to play cribbage
46. Train a puppy to roll over
47. Plant a tree
48. Attend Homecoming at West Point
49. Have something named after me (a child, a building, a sandwich, whatever)
50. Go an entire week without answering a telephone
51. Try snowboarding
52. Be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune
53. Have my picture made with Jerry Seinfeld
54. Go skinny dipping
55. Sit on a jury
56. Wear the Razorback mascot costume
57. Chase a tornado
58. Spend Christmas on the beach
59. Cook and eat a fish that I caught
60. Go to a drive-in movie
61. Start a business
62. Ride in a donkey cart
63. Visit the Galapagos Islands
64. See Belize
65. Learn to throw a boomerang
66. Take a polar bear plunge
67. Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
68. Win something from a radio station
69. Stake out the Loch Ness monster
70. Take a Volunteer Vacation
71. See the Monarch Butterflies in Angangueo, Mexico
72. Throw a surprise party
73. Finally punch that ticket to Budapest
74. Splash around in a fountain in Rome
75. Ice skate on a frozen pond
76. Have my caricature drawn on the Venice Beach Boardwalk
77. Set a world record
78. Spend Christmas volunteering in a soup kitchen
79. Build a house of cards
80. See my name in lights
81. Own a DSLR camera and REALLY learn how to use it
82. Serve as Honorary Duck Master at the Peabody
83. Take a night dive with Manta Rays in Hawaii
84. Learn to wear color
85. Tour Washington DC
86. Go snowshoeing
87. Ride the tallest and fastest rollercoaster on earth (currently the Kingda Ka, at Six Flags in New Jersey)
88. Learn to make my Mom's peanut brittle
89. See the Grand Ole Opry
90. Climb the steps of the Acropolis
91. Have a corn dog with Colt at Coney Island
92. Meet the Duggars
93. Go parasailing
94. Pose in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Every man dies. Not every man really lives. – William Wallace