The 1/4 Way Mark
Oh, put me in, Coach – I’m ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach – I’m ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.
John Fogerty
Today I am one quarter of the way through my 50th year. It’s technically my 50.25 birthday.
The 50 – 50 List in Progress
Looking at my 50 / 50 list, I know that I will not get everything done. In fact, even if I had unlimited funds and no job to take up my time, I still would not be able to complete all the tasks.
And maybe I don’t need to.
Maybe it’s not about the list?
I’m starting to realise that it’s not about completing the list but getting out there and just enjoying life, experiencing new things and going after all the things I’ve denied myself in the past.
In the past, I would always put the “to do” list before the “I want to” list. This is likely why I ended up with cancer, twice. All work and no play makes The Dame pretty freakin’ dull and frustrated.
Old Dreams
The same goes for all the dreams I had along the way. Again, I put them aside because “someone had to be the responsible one” and earn a living or make sure there was food on the table or make sure, etc. “
Granted, Van is a pretty small minded, small town. There really isn’t much culture or artistic scene to “make it” in. At least not back when I was young and fresh. You really had to “know” someone or have a green card to get an acting gig. And I didn’t fancy sleeping in flea bag hotel rooms and travelling in a van full of stinky guys for days. So, in the pre-internet days, unless I moved to Toronto (!!?!??!) there wasn’t much paid work around. It would be just what I could scrape together myself.
Thank heavens for You-Tube. It really has made it easier for talented (and, let’s be honest, not so talented) people to show the world what they can do.
New Dreams
Anyway, my 50/50 list is about going forward and enjoying life. Maybe the list gets done in 2 years, maybe a decade, who knows. There will be cool things added, things that drop off and maybe there will be more than fifty items on the list over time. Who cares?
The point is that I get my butt out there and try new things, try things that I’ve always wanted to do. Even go to events I’ve talked about.
No more life on the sidelines. I’m ready to get out on the field and go for it.