50 Things to Do Before I Die
佚名 / Anonymous
A few weeks ago， I followed a friend into an art-supply store. I found him picking out tubes of water-color paint， which surprised me because he’s not an artist.
“I signed up for a water-color class， and it starts next week，” he said sheepishly， “I don’t really have time for it， but it was on my list of 50 things to do before I die， so I went for it.” This sounds interesting， “What else is on the list？” I asked him.
“All kinds of things，” he said， “Every few months I look at the list and decide what to focus on next. Before I had the list， I moaned a lot about what I was missing in my life. Now I just do stuff. ”
“Can I see your list sometime？” I asked.
“I don't know，” he said， “it reveals a lot about me. Write your own list， and you'll see what I mean.”
So that night I did just that， and he was right. The list revealed a whole lot about what was important to me. It also revealed how hopelessly behind I am at getting to the things I really want.
Just writing the list helped me sort through some of my prioritiess. I filled up the first 20 blanks quickly， but then began to think carefully. Eventually I added items I've thought about for years， dreams I’ve carried with me since I was young， and things that resonated when I first heard about them. When I reviewed the list later， some entries surprised me.
First， I want to travel much more， particularly now that my children are older and can go with me to see the world. I would like to take them to bike through Denmark and camp in the Canadian Rockies.
I’m also surprised to find some things on the list that need to be done soon. If I’m going to learn to roller-blade， for instance， I’d better start before I turn 50.
A few of the items are intimidating because they mean a serious commitment of some sort. I would like to publish a novel before I die， and I also would like to learn to play piano with a string quartet. If I'm going to accomplish these things， I need to start writing every day and polishing my piano skills.