This summer has been a lot of the following things: reading, traveling, organizing and reflecting. I keep feeling like I’m on the verge of a change; on the precipice of my new self, my new life. Today’s post is to push myself to chase the person I want to be and to follow the goals that make me unique and alive…
—
It’s felt good to put things into perspective this summer and to prioritize what is and is not important to me at this point in my life. I’ve invested a lot of thinking into figuring out what makes me tick, what makes me feel truly alive because recently, I’ve been terrified of being one of those people who goes through the motions of life, but misses out on all the parts that truly counts. A less mature me would go crazy trying to formulate the perfect recipe to the good life. The thing is, everyone has a different definition of what is a “good” way to live your life, and what would be a waste. My new understanding is the belief that there is no right or wrong answer, it just depends on who you are and what you consider important.
In order to insure that I don’t waste my time and my life doing things that do not make me a better person, or make the world a better place, I decided to create a list of things I want to accomplish. It’s a “30 things to do by the age of 30” list. The cool thing is that a while ago, I came up with a list of things that are important to me: service, family, travel, the outdoors, puppies (yes, puppies made the list) and more. I think the list I created this past weekend not only suits me perfectly, but also follows a lot of the things that I consider important in my life. It feels good to be congruent in this way and I hope that I can complete this list in the next 6 years. Seems difficult? Seems impossible? I’m up to the challenge.
Body:
1) Run a half marathon
2) Run 15 road races
3) Learn to like a new veggie each year (that’s 6 new veggies)
4) Hike 150 miles of the app trail
Travel:
5) Visit 6/7 continents (that means I need to visit South America and Australia or Antarctica lol)
6) Go on 3 service trips abroad
7) Paraglide somewhere outrageous
8) Get to know the West Coast–San Diego, Seattle, NorCal, Portland, etc
9) Travel through Europe
10) Visit a Southeast Asian country
Ownership:
11) Buy a house
12) Own a home brew kit and brew great beer
13) Create a garden/herb garden
14) Get a doggy!!!
15) Own and use a kayak
16) Buy a car on my own
Milestones:
17) Get married ❤
18) Get my master’s degree
19) Have a great job in the field of student affairs and pay 100% of my bills
Events:
20) Go to a music festival
21) Deep sea fishing
22) Mardi Gras in New Orleans
23) Swim in a waterfall
24) New Years Eve in NYC
25) Running of the bulls in Pamplona (don’t worry, my uncle lives there so this isn’t impossible)
Academic/Service:
26) Read a dozen non fiction books (not assigned by grad classes)
27) Learn to speak better Farsi
28) Learn to cook!
29) Become a regular volunteer at a service agency
30) Lead a service trip somewhere
—
Here goes nothing!
Alyson B. Farzad 