May 31st 2016. 83 weeks to go.
With the realisation that my 50th birthday is only 83 weeks away, or 19 months, or 1 year and 7 months. Whichever way you look at it, it still sounds scary, I have decided to take this blog on a slightly different route. It is still about being happy, achieving positive results, but it is also about my own journey into my 50th decade by embarking on a 50 things to do before I’m 50 challenge.
I have numerous foibles and anxieties which I really should have grown out of by now and I think that by doing some of the challenges that I have set myself then I may, just a bit, take a step on the road of eradicating them.
I have set myself quite realistic goals taking into account that I do not have a bottomless pit of money – one does still have the mortgage to pay on just my wage at the end of the day – and I am the proud owner of a slightly dodgy back which rules out things like bungee jumping and skydiving. I would rather like to get to the age of 51 both walking and alive…
I have also based a few of them around some current life goals such as doing a Master’s degree (which won’t be completed by the time of my 50th birthday, but it will be started as I am enrolled on the Open University’s Masters in Creative Writing starting October 2016).
I am quite embarrassed to admit that although I live in the beautiful county of Cornwall, I have visited so little of the places beyond my local area. It is time to change this, St Michaels Mount is sitting quite high on my list of 10 places to go that I have never gone to before (number 3). It may be surprising to note that I have only put that I want to have a short story published? This would be because I have already had poetry published and I regularly have non-fiction in the form of theatre reviews placed into the public domain. Whilst it is always an ego boost to see them, it would be churlish of me to set a challenge for something I have already achieved…same goes for ‘have a tattoo…’
As for number 33….I have to put one totally unlikely thing to do in there don’t I? We all know that that one will never happen!
So, below is my list.
Some are already set in motion but none are achieved. If any of my friends or family wish to accompany me on any of them, then please get in touch. For my family? There may even be a few ideas for Christmas presents in here…you are always saying that I am a nightmare to buy something for….
- Make stuff from my fabric stash – use the good stuff!
- Go to the Zoo.
- Visit 10 places in Cornwall that I have never been to before.
- Finish writing one of the novels I have started.
- Do a Master’s degree.
- Take a holiday.
- Go to an opera.
- Catch up with old friends.
- Make 50 items for charity.
- Clear out the workshop.
- Drive somewhere far away – and don’t freak out!
- Go on a zipline.
- Do 50 random acts of kindness.
- Write down regrets – burn them.
- Try 50 new recipes.
- Have a picnic in the park.
- Go to a yoga or meditation class.
- Have professional photos done.
- Write my will.
- Have a professional massage.
- Do something I’m scared of.
- Go geocaching.
- Have a short story published.
- Be a tourist at home.
- Spend a day watching movies and eating my favourite foods – sod the diet!
- Have a caricature of myself done.
- Spend a day at the beach.
- Learn a musical instrument.
- Put together a family cookbook.
- Make and give out some happy pebbles to strangers.
- Take a boat ride.
- Write a gratitude list.
- Go on a date.
- Keep my blog up to date.
- Finish my UFP’s!
- Dress up for the day with no reason.
- Make a posh dress.
- Visit 5 childhood haunts.
- Go on a rollercoaster.
- Visit a museum.
- Visit an art gallery.
- Take a class in something new.
- Research family tree.
- Do something spontaneous.
- Go to a craft show.
- Go on a writing retreat.
- Go glamping.
- Eat something I’ve never tried before.
- Handwrite a letter to someone that is unexpected.
- Stop worrying about the future and live in the now.
And of course,
Most of all,
Be happy, today is always awesome. x
Piskie Dreams 