As some of you may or may not know, I have been off ill with the aul Swine Flu. It was not a wonderful time to be truly honest. Spent most of it on the sofa watching crappy day time TV and feeling sorry for myself. In the midst of all the eucalyptus, tissues, cough syrup and Lockets, I began wondering about something.
Now I'm going to get all like the bloke that did the "always wear sunscreen' song on you here. But it's purely just me voicing my own thoughts and ponderings on the big L word... Life.
I have spent most of mine, very aware that I will only get one. And any of you reading this that haven't realised that yet, consider this your boot up the backside. You will never have this moment again. It will be gone and before you know it you could be 80 years old thinking "What the hell did I do?". So my mission in life is to do all of the things I want to do and knock as much craic out of it as possible in the process. There is no point pursuing a lifetime worth of goals and not having fun. At least, if for some reason you do not meet those targets, you can always think of the love and laughter you gained in the process of trying.
When I was about 18, I made a list. A list of all the things I wanted to do in my time on this earth. I thought about the things and experiences that would make me happy. I made a point of having some easily achievable things, some difficult things and some just-for-the-fun-of-it things on my list. So here is my 5 year old list. The pink things are those I've done.
- Get a degree
- See U2 in concert
- Take my kids to Disney Land Florida
- Live in a different country
- Learn Latin
- Learn to play piano
- Own a house with a garden
- Have my own studio
- Jump through a pane of sugar glass
- Own a motorbike
- Learn to drive
- Get a tattoo
- Live somewhere where I don't speak the language
- Travel the world
I was speaking to my bridesmaid Becks about this (which was my inspiration for this post), who made me realise that it's ok to review your list. It is not definite. It will change as you do. I am now getting married and will be embarking upon a new chapter in my life, so what better time to revise my list. I've pondered it in my feverish state and came up with a new list... and here it is:
- Sit somewhere and try to comprehend something incomprehensible
- Grow vegetables
- Ride a bike with streamers and a basket
- Make fudge
- Own a car
- Do a cookery course
- Judge a competition
- Sail a boat
- Get my hair cut pixie short
- Have a house with a red or navy door
- Wear jewellery on a beach
- Eat street food in Thailand
- Do some aid work
- Fall asleep in a hammock
- Perfect my evil laugh
Please bear in mind that this is by no means a resolution list. These are things I would like to be able to look back on when I'm wrinkly and old and say, I did that and God it was fun.
So, have any of you got lists of your own? I love having sneaky peeks so please share! Seriously... I love lists.
