Things To Do Before I Die (A Long, Long Time From Now)

Several years ago, I made a list of 111 Things To Do Before I Die. 

Then I shoved it into a box and promptly forgot about it.  But y'know how, sometimes, you find things you haven't seen in years, and you're like, OH MY GOD, WHERE HAS THIS BEEN!?!!  

Well, my list has been in a white, metal box in my kitchen, and yesterday I unearthed it, only to discover that HOT DAMN! I've ACCOMPLISHED some stuff!

Here's what I've done:

6. Create a television show and run it.

7. Run a television show. (Apparently, I really wanted to cover my bases on that one.)

14. Own a house.

17. Exercise four times per week for one year.

18. Eat no fast food for one year.

22. Sing in a performance for friends.  (I've done a couple weddings.  I figure that counts.)

30. Quit smoking. (Did that one a few times.  Last one finally stuck.)

31. Write a song and sing it for people.  (I wrote one song.  I sang it for my mom.  Which was harder than singing for "people.")

36. Stay at the Bellagio. (I put 35 other things before this one.  My values are in excellent order, thank you.)

43. Make and donate knitted blankets. 

49. Write Jim Shepard a thank you note.  (My college writing professor.  Great writer. Great teacher.  And I sent him an email, which is not exactly a note, but I'm giving myself this one.)

55. Go to therapy.  (Did this one A LOT.)

57. Read War & Peace.

63. Buy a DVD player.  (Seriously.  It's on the list.)

64. Get a desktop computer. 

65. Get a cell phone.  (When did I make this list?  1983?)

66. Get a nice filofax.  (Okay, this is starting to be humiliating.)

67. Buy my mom a Foremost Dairies collectible.  (Her dad worked there.  It's a thing.)

68. Go to Sky Bar. (Emmy party.  Saw Colin Firth.  Sigh.  Where is my Mark Darcy?)

73. Hire a business manager.  

74. Pay off my credit cards.

75. Get a credit card.  (I'm confused by this one.  If I wanted to pay off my credit cards, why did I need a credit card???)

80. Have a music room in my house. (When I moved into my house, I made this little nook into a music room.  Didn't last long, but I think it's enough.)

82. Read a book in Swedish. 

86. Have a personal assistant.  (For context, I was a personal assistant when I wrote this list.)

91. Plant and take care of some flowers.

92. Buy a sewing machine.  (If only I'd added "Learn to use sewing machine.")

101. Get rid of A LOT of my stuff.  (Not that I couldn't get rid of more...)

104. Ask a man out on a date.

108. Volunteer for a politician I believe in. 

109. Write a novel.

110. Get novel published.  

Pretty good, right?  Then there are some things that just don't make sense anymore, like "Hire K as an actress on a t.v. show."  

My friend K was a struggling actress when I made this list (which also includes "Treat B and N to a great vacation," only now B is married to the aforementioned K, and N is married to S, so I'm gonna say this one's out of the question...), and now K's a successful television writer.    

Still to do?

Well, there's number 12 (get married) and number 13 (have at least one child), which it looks like I will be doing out of order, at best.  And there's 28 (fall in love).  And 45 (learn to dye yarn).  And 58 (read Anna Karenina-- it's on my Kindle).  There are lots of places to travel, and lots of good works to accomplish, from small (83: Serve Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless.) to large (38: Give $10,000 to Teach for America. It's in my will.  They may have to wait 'til I die...)

And today it looks like I'll be adding another item to the list:

112: Remodel house.  

Because I think I'm staying put.  Every piece of advice in every comment was terrific, but I loved the coin flipping notion.  Only, when I read it, I realized that I didn't need to flip a coin.  Because from the moment I realized I wanted to remodel and stay... I've pretty much just been excited.

Which is a feeling I'm going to work hard to hang onto... because everyone knows that remodeling is hell.

.

What's on your list?  What have you crossed off that you're most proud of?

Comments

[Barb]

Believe it or not, this time, for the Paris vacation, I took a plane for the first time. Having my own business is something I proudly crossed off the list when I started it, even though things might change there. Falling in love wasn't even on the list, but it happened anyway. Writing a novel is a long held dream that came into action lately and is almost done. Going crazy fan and campaign for a TV show, glad to have done that. ;)

[Chris Green]

Congrats on making the decision to stay. How exciting! Wow, a list eh? I'm a list maker. I LOVE lists. I make lists for everything imaginable. BUT, I've never made a list of things to accomplish personally.

Now I have to try and figure out why that is and also why I feel like it's too late to make a list like that. hmmmmmmmm

[EscapeVelocity]

I've published a book and sailed out of sight of land.

[Jen]

What a great list! And great accomplishments to be very proud of. I haven't exactly made a list, but have tried to take advantage of every opportunity that's come my way. Travel to cool places was something I didn't think I'd do, but with my late husband as an excellent travel companion, we made it to some wonderful locations including The Galapagos Islands.

Thank you for giving us insight into your decision-making process about selling or remodeling. I'm glad to hear it was actually a pretty easy call. My mom had a piece of advice similar to the coin toss, and I remember her describing it to me in the changing room of a department store when I was about 10, trying to choose a dress. "Make a choice", she said, "and then see how you feel. If you're disappointed, change your mind!" I like the coin toss technique a little better, because it's external to your own mental processing.

[amy]

Congratulations! You've accomplished quite a bit in your 38 years!! And from today's post it sounds as if you are going to have another big "to do" crossed off with the home remodel. Good luck! I can't wait to see pictures of the house change (hopefully you will post?).

[Liz]

I think it's funny that "get married" is #12 but "fall in love" is #28 - you DO like to do things out of order, don't you?!?

I find it more useful to make short-term lists - things I want to accomplish this year, for example - I'm very motivated by deadlines, and "before I die" is just a little too non-specific as deadlines go...

[sarahfain]

Sailed out of sight of land! Thats a great one, and one Im envious of. Which reminds me, I need to add learn to sail to my list.

www.starfishenvy.typepad.com

[Julie]

I'm so excited you're staying in the house. You love that house. It's your house. With some changes -- the same kinds of changes you're making to your life -- it'll grow to be your family's house.

And I made a list like that too. Only it was recently, so I've only crossed like one thing off. But ... yay! One thing!

[Karen]

I love the fact that you've decided to stay put. I thought when you described your house and it's location that it sounded pretty darn good. Sometimes seeing what is out there house and life wise makes us appreciate what we have right now. Remodeling can be difficult but the end process is worth it when it makes you fall in love with your house again. And remember babies are happy with mommies who are happy, no matter where they live.

[sarahfain]

Maybe that means its the PERFECT time to make a list! Liz says she finds short-term lists more useful (I make a lot of those, too), so maybe you should start with a TO DO THIS MONTH list...

[Honeybee Happy]

Great list items Sarah!! It's so interesting to see how your life grows and changes based on some of the items on the list. I love that Sky Bar made it to your list. Hehe.

In no particular order, here are some items on my list: Buy and maintain a salt water fish tank, get a garden plot, publish a novel, make a cookbook with recipes/stories from my family and give it to everyone as a holiday gift, create a hit animated series, learn how to play the violin, own a home, climb Mt. Whitney.

[Heather]

I make weekly lists, and some short-term lists for things to accomplish by the end of the year. Those don't get much crossed off. Had I made a list in college, I probably would have crossed off maybe a third of the things I planned to do.

Got married.
Had kids.
Did the Hollywood thing.
Moved back to the midwest.
Taught writing at my alma mater. (That was a bigee.)

I toy with the idea of creating a new list. I guess "write a book" is on that, and "retire to great condo downtown," but beyond that...?

[Angelina]

Sarah your list puts mine to shame. Well, ahhh, I don't have a list. But reading your list it sounds like it could be fun. I'm inspired.

We have been in renovation purgatory for two years, but we're very satisfied with the results. My advice to you is don't let missing arbitrary deadlines get you down, and hire people you trust.

[sarahfain]

Excellent, excellent advice. I have a hard time remembering that deadlines are often arbitrary-- but remembering that is, I think, a key to happiness. So thanks!!

[K.R.]

I am so impressed with that list, Sarah, and amazed by how much you've accomplished... and I'm also quite touched, as I suspect that I was the K who was going to get an acting job before she quit acting. What an honor to make your list. It's probably best you never needed to try that one, though... you REALLY would have had to fight the studio to hire me instead of Angie Harmon.

[Alexis Grant]

Whoa, we are on the same page! I just wrote a similar blog post (about my bucket list) and it should go up next week. Kudos to you for having this list for yourself -- and for crossing off so many of the items! Lists like this really give us insight into your personality and dreams.

[Karin Carter]

If you take advice from readers you don't know, I just listened to a teleseminar called "Why Am I Still Single?" to see if I could recommend it to a friend. I found it useful! (I'm married.) Of course its purpose is to sell further teleseminars, but I thought it was worth the time. http://www.loveworksforyou.com/recording.html

[Maria]

Good for you that you've decided to stay in your current house! You seem to love the location so much! I'm sure that remodeling will be a lot of work but it will also be a lot of fun! My (vicariously acquired) understanding of house remodeling is that a little patience helps a lot. It will be worth the work because you'll get to make practical and aesthetic choices that make sense to you!