The wish list

1. Novel

2. Love

3. Family

4. Song

5. Mountain

6. 50 States

7. Seven continents

8. Follow my favorite band

9. Fly a plane

10. Bike across the country

11. Read 30 books in one year

12. Make a film

As a college student about to embark upon graduation within the coming years, I have often lied awake late into the night pondering what to do with my life. Where do I want to go, who do I want to meet and what do I want out of life? And not just for my career, but on a deeper more personal level. The things in life are what make us human, such as trying new things, however bizarre and foreign they may be, eating strange foods, sky diving, visiting exotic countries and finding someone to spend the rest of life with.

Last week while cleaning my room (a once a year sort of event), I stumbled across an old “wish list” for my life. It was buried in an Adidas shoes box with a slue of old family photographs, the ones that didn’t make my mom’s scrapbook.

I unfolded the list, which was dated from 2005 with 12 life goals. I read it aloud to myself, lying upside down on my couch. The list began with ascending a chosen mountain of over 20,000 feet in altitude and ended with falling in love and starting a family or something corny like that. In between were things like writing a novel, visiting all seven continents and riding a road bike across the country.

I sat there, staring at the list thinking about if I could cross anything off; I couldn’t.

I decided to then create a list of more short term goals, things I could achieve within the next year or so. Such as visiting a friend of mine in Washington State and fishing on the ocean. From there I designed a plan of action for all my goals, both short and long term.

One Web site, 43Things.com is an online community consisting of people who share their goals and passions. It’s like an electronic version of my life’s “to do” list. People post things such as, “reducing debt by 25%, learn to play the cello, travel to Europe and get married.” People from all over the globe can add these or their own goals to their page.

I feel that a life list and site like 43Things have a great importance for people. Perhaps not always long term life goals, but short term lists and goals as well. Something as simple as changing your car’s tires or reading one book a month. These goals keep a general direction in your life and serve for an evaluation after some time has passed.

Although presently I have not written a novel, I’ve learned a wealth of knowledge about the writing process and what it takes to become an author. I have studied books at great length and I’m familiar with a multitude of styles.

I have yet to ascend a four mile high mountain, but since first creating that list, I’ve visited Colorado several times and ascended many 12,000 footers. And while I still have not ridden my bike across the country, I have since trekked some 400 miles along the St. Lawrence seaway in Quebec.

I can still feel the gentle weight of my goals nudging me in the direction I want to go, serving as a reminder of what I still want to experience and see for myself.