Sunday 20 September 2009

A 'to do' list with a difference


A 51 year old male - the impermanence of human life hurtling towards him, coupled with several weeks of peace and quiet to contemplate what he has and, more importantly, has not done in his life.
I have decided to make an abridged 101 things you must do before you die type of 'to do' list. I am being sensible and only adding items that I can afford to do, in terms of both time and money.
So here is the list, in no particular order:

1) Learn to fly a powered light aircraft 
2) Write a short story and have it published in a magazine

3) Present a paper at a truly international conference
4) Learn to ride a unicycle
5) Teach my daughters to use a map and compass
6) Make my own cider
7) Plant a small woodland
8) Sponsor a micro solar/hydro project in a developing country
9) Write an online course using Moodle 
10) Learn to fly a glider

11) Find a Victorian bicycle (boneshaker or penny-farthing) to restore which costs less than a small house. 
12) Climb all 217 mountains and fells on A.W. Wainwright's list 
13) Fly in a hot-air balloon 
14) Learn to paint with the set of acrylics my mother bought me 5 years ago
15) Find something of value with a metal detector 

As these things get 'ticked off' or added to, so the list will change. I'm hoping it will give my life some focus as I feel the last 10 years in Thailand flew by with indecent speed. A sign of increasing age I fear.

2 comments:

Catherine said...

Number 12 would also be on my list!

Phillip Donnelly said...

Yes, life speeds up, which is just as well really, because it's all a bit repetitive after a while. Like a star orbiting a black hole, we spin in ever-decreasing circles and at an ever-increasing speed. A to-do-before-death list is a good idea though, a way to decrease the velocity of the fall into the abyss.
Hum.. I'm getting the most curious sense of deja vu.
Odd...