Saturday 20 September 2008

I do, therefore I am.

As you get older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do – Zachary Scott, 1914-1465, Actor

I believe that in order to make something of my life, I need to make something of every single day in it. For me, one of the worst feelings in the world is falling asleep with the knowledge that I achieved nothing.

Which is probably why I don't watch much tv, and why I love being busy - and therefore why there is no such thing as being busy watching tv.

When I'm occupied, I don't have the time (or reason) to complain about why my life isn't going anywhere.

And as the last of my teenage years rears its ugly head, I've been feeling a sudden need to reassess the things I have yet to achieve.

THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE

• Save enough money to live in Spain for a year
• Maintain a credit average to keep my scholarship and graduate from uni
• Secure a career in the media industry (magazine, advertising, public relations)
• Visit my grandmother in the Philippines
• Honeymoon in Hawaii
• See the pyramids and the Sphinx in Egypt
• Get my car and motorbike licence
• Buy a sewing machine and learn how to use it
• Learn how to knit
• Fly a kite
• Adopt at least one child
• Write a book
• Do missionary work
• Learn how to play an instrument
• Skydive
• Marry and grow old with someone who makes me happy
• Raise my kids in a quiet town, somewhere halfway between the city and the country
• Invest in properties
• Learn how to cook !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Learn how to do my own laundry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Paint my own paintings to display on the walls of my house
• Get a massage without laughing
• Watch a sunset
• Go camping and/or fishing
• Watch the Oprah show live in studio
• Learn photography and silkscreening
• Visit as many art galleries as possible
• Learn how to ice-skate and rollerblade

Everyone has things they want to accomplish in life. For a few good years, mine were pretty much running riot in the back of my mind. I found taming them into a list quite like I find cleaning: theraputic.

There are two kinds of people:
(1) People who have wish lists and hope for magic.
(2) People have to-do lists and make magic happen.
So which one are you?