I've never been one to make to make New Year's resolutions. Perhaps I never saw the value in deciding the middle of winter was a good time to quit smoking, lose weight and do the other generic thing people tell themselves they will finally do this year- Turns out it's much easier to quit smoking and start exercising during spring in sunny California- or, in a more general sense, using holidays as motivational tools. Also, grumble grumble pessimism bah humbug and so on. So here I am, all positive about life (gross), resolving to start a second blog and become a superfreak. (Aside: Listen Blogger, as your name suggests, this is a fucking blog. Vernacular abounds in your world. Stop telling me superfreak isn't a word.) These resolutions are of little or no actual importance since my ability to carry them out has little to do with a calendar. The resolutions of mine that matter to my life do not involve December, January or any specific timeframe at all.
While listening to one of the two podcasts I subscribe to, I heard a story from Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals. His story has nothing to do with sports, but it might have helped him get involved in sports. As the story goes, Ted Leonsis was on a plane that had an emergency landing. After experiencing a near-near-death experience, Leonsis took it upon himself to make a list of 101 things to do before he died. It's not a bucket list, per se, it's more of a guideline for how he wanted to live his life. The entire first section of the list is dedicated to raising a family. In fact, most of the list consists of the normal things one might hope to accomplish in a "complete" life. But then there are some loftier goals thrown in there. Owning a sports team is there. So is having a net worth of $100 million. He's got both of those checked off. He's fifty-three years old and he's done more than eighty things from his list.
I got inspired enough to make my own list. I quickly realized that it isn't about putting your whole life on a piece of paper. I came to think of it as more of a loose outline for the next 60-75 years. No schedule, no real plan, just some broad ideas of how I'd like things to play out. Am I going to laminate it and keep it in a safe place for the rest of my life? Probably not. But I find it comforting to have a record of what I would like out my life. Like Leonsis, I have a lot of general family stuff. The first three things on my list are get married, have kids, have grandkids. I didn't get as optimistic to think I can realistically own a sports team- not until I win the lottery anyway. There's still some cool stuff I hope to achieve. Did you know I'm going to run a marathon, host a radio show and make my own whiskey? I'm also going skydiving before I have kids. By the way, I'm afraid of heights.
Whether or not I come close to completing my list is beside the point. I wrote it all down to motivate myself to shoot for a life I'd be proud of. I'm giving myself a reason do all the bullshit. In this season of short-term thinking, I'm looking for some long-term inspiration. Even if I come up drastically short of getting it all done, the value of this list is in everything else that happens along the way. I might even settle for having a family and nothing else. Owning a jet pack would be pretty sweet too. You know, just in case.
*Listen to the B.S Report interview with Ted Leonsis
*Look at Leonsis's list
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