Are you addicted to drama and mayhem in your life?
Are you living within your financial means?
Do you start projects and never finish them?
Are you always having boyfriend/girlfriend trouble?
Do you waste water?
Are you patient with children?
Are you gossiping?
Do you think at the end of your life you will be held responsible?
Are you holding on to old grudges?
Do you wash your hands after you used the bathroom?
Do you say “please” and “thank you” often?
Are you friendly with your family, even if you find them difficult?
Do you watch brainless TV programs?
Are you taking recreational drugs and/or excessive alcohol?
Do you reach out when you feel lonely?
Are you always late?
Do you cover your mouth when you sneeze/ cough?
Do you read a book once in a while?
Are you text-messaging when you drive?
Do you think the world and the people in it owe you something?
Have you given to charity in the last month?
Are you neighborly?
Are you eating more than your share at the table - given that there are about ten billion people who also want to eat?
Do you work hard for your dreams?
Is your house cluttered?
Do you recycle?
Do you lend a helping hand – even to strangers?
Are you the problem – or are you part of the solution to the problem? Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
Before You Die
June 19, 2010
If you find no new block entry here – does it mean your blogger is sitting idly around at the beach?
No. She is immersed in the novel she tries to finish before she dies. What is it you must finish before you die? Remember Miss Rumphius? Her grandfather had told her the three things one has to accomplish in life: To travel foreign lands; to live at the ocean (You might remember that “Miss Rumphius” is a Maine story); to leave the world a more beautiful place.
Husbands always feel one should clean out the attic before I die, or such – but we, who should do it, lack enthusiasm for the attic. Given one wouldn’t want to leave the mess to one’s children to sort out – but then again, who is going to die die THAT SOON??
There are tons of bucket lists on the Internet what to do before we die. Here is mine:
1. Finish your novel.
What are other people aspiring to do before they die? Skydiving, bungee jumping, parachute jumping. Too much jumping, it seems. Too short-lived and not along my alley. How about these:
2. Learn a musical instrument (or painting or wood working or weaving or pottery).
3. Grow your own vegetables and herbs. And perhaps blueberries.
4. Forgive that incredible jerk/bitch (we all have one in our lives).
5. Climb a mountain. Doesn’t need to be Mount Everest – but should be bigger than the Blue Mountains near Boston. Take part in a long bike ride. Or learn tai chi – anything that gets you moving out of your comfort zone.
6. Do a vegetable broth fast for a whole day. Once a week – until you have your ideal weight; then go to once a month.
7. Learn a new language.
8. Take a cold shower. Every day.
9. Read Les Misérables (or War and Peace, or Our Mutual Friend – or the other thousand-pages-plus tome you always wanted to read).
10. Sleep under the stars and watch a sunrise.
Others I liked: Walk the Great Wall of China, Visit Paris, Publish a book, Touch an Iceberg. Many of those traveling goals sound like fun – but they expand your carbon footprint enormously. Visiting Paris or leaning to play the cello? I have done both; nothing against Paris, but the instrument beats the town by miles.
Find Your Soul Mate would be a worthy goal, wouldn’t it be? But that is not in your hands. Strive for something attainable - you don’t want to build your life on Grace or Fate or Incredible Luck. Read More
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