So. Here we are. Five years later. I turn 30 tomorrow. I’ll admit, I haven’t been doing the greatest job of updating this blog; life kind of got in the way and this sort of fell to the bottom of the priority pile.
I have actually crossed quite a few more things off, I just haven’t written about them yet. All in all, I’m pretty pleased.
So what didn’t I do? Well, I never wrote that novel. I started work on one, so I guess that’s a gray area, but completion was the goal, so… not quite. I didn’t learn to drive a stick shift, I didn’t get backstage anywhere, I didn’t make it to Broadway, I didn’t get to hold a koala, and I never did master the cherry-stem thing. But I did a whole ton of other things that I never even thought to add to the list. I even expanded on some things that I did check off – not only did I run a 5K (multiple times!) but this past weekend I ran my first 10K.
The interesting thing about lists like this is that your mind can change so many times over the course of a project. I’ve revised the list a few times; I’ve got many more things that I came up with later that I didn’t even bother to add. You can’t contain life to a list of bullet points. It will change in awesome, unexpected ways. And things that used to seem novel or important can fade away sometimes.
I’m not going to make a new list, but my next “big” goal is to visit all 50 states before I turn 50. I’m a little over half – I’ve got somewhere between 28-30 (I need to update my map!) and I’m not going to stress about it. It’s just a fun little thing to have in my back pocket.
All in all – I’m glad I made this list. It gave me things to strive for, and it made me think of some things to do outside of my normal comfort zone. And it was awesome. So for those of you working on your lists: good luck, have fun, and don’t worry if you don’t cross everything off. The whole point is the journey, anyway.
30 Things to Do Before I Turn 30 