Day 104: Forty Things Before Forty

I turned 39 at the beginning of this month, and honestly, I was surprised at the number of people who said something along the lines of "Only one more year 'til the big Four-Oh!"  I mean, I knew people were paranoid about turning 40?  I just didn't expect so many of them to think I would be paranoid about turning 40.  

Oh, well.  

At any rate, it did get me thinking about the average human life span, and the passage of time, and the process of waiting.  I feel like we wait for a lot, because we assume that some day will the the right time.  Or a better time.  Or a possible time.  And there's actually some truth in that.  Unless we think we're going to die tomorrow, going massively into debt in order to visit every continent in the span of six months is... well... a little irresponsible.  On the other hand, sometimes we fall into routine, and we pass up perfectly possible adventures, all because we assume there will be some magical someday when they'll come to us again, and we'll be better prepared.

Well, if I have average luck then at this point half my life is gone.  And if I have bad luck then hell, maybe 95% of my life is gone.  So, with that in mind, I decided to make a bucket list of 40 things I want to do before I turn 40.  

Ready?  

Here we go.

Forty Things Before Forty:

1) Take the children somewhere they've never been.

2) Publish one fiction book.

3) Publish one non-fiction book.

4) Actually sell a piece of writing to a publisher who isn't me.

5) Dance.

6) Learn to do a handstand.

7) Unplug for 48 Hours.

8) Write letters to the people I love.

9) Go somewhere I've never been.

10) Take care of my body.

11) Ride in a hot air balloon

12) Say "no" if it's no, but otherwise say "YES."

13) Make something beautiful.

14) Go camping.

15) Host an old fashioned picnic or tea.

16) Have a Free Hug Day.

17) Cosplay.

18) Make a fantastic gingerbread house.

19) Write poetry.

20) Be consistently honest with myself.

21) Drive a sports car.

22) View a natural phenomenon.

23) Attend a large event, festival, or convention.

24) Swim somewhere with a waterfall.

25) Go Zydro-ing.

26) Do a color run.

27) Build a sand castle.

28) Collect a beautiful memory for each time of day.

29) Try a new cuisine.

30) Have art made for me.

31) Grow something edible.

32) Make a shaving cream slip-and-slide.

33) Try sensory deprivation.

34) Design my next tattoo.

35) Go to a drive-in.

36) Build more blanket forts.

37) Make scrapbooks for the kids.

38) Build a snowman.

39) Go on a scavenger hunt.

40) Throw a banging party.