35 before 35

I was sorely afraid to write this post. Not because I mind sharing some of my goals, but rather I was afraid I had lost the touch and forgotten how to write. I have not blogged in six months for several reasons and I forgot how good and quite cathartic putting ink to paper feels symbolically.

This blog post was inspired by my sister, Wally, who wrote a list of thirty things she plans to do before turning thirty. Without giving too much away, setting thirty as a goal might seem over zealous in my case, so I went with the nearest milestone age, thirty five.

I have always been good at making mental lists and checking things off once I got them done. However, a lot can be said about writing things down on paper. Mental notes are soon forgotten and there's a certain permanence that comes with the written word. I remember at the age of seventeen I scribbled the words "I owe myself a college degreee" in a journal I owned. For some reason, I feared I would not get one. I don't know why, but that nagging fear was there. Now, working on my third degree, I stumbled across that old journal and I read about the fears I had then and realized that writing out my thoughts and ending on the note that I would get a college degree helped put a lot in perspective.

So here goes some from my bucket list:

3. Graduate from Law School
5. Visit all the continents I haven't been to yet
11. Learn to swim
12. Pay for the groceries of everyone in a long line in front of me at the grocery store
15. Become a certified scuba diver
17. Run a half marathon
19. Attend every tennis grand slam tournament
20. World Cup
21. Own a boxer named Denver
22. Give back significantly to my alma mater
23. Force my parents into early retirement
25. Vacation for a whole month
27. Attend Fashion Week in New York, London, Paris, and Milan
28. Be part of the solution to alleviating global poverty
34. Learn to bake a "bad" red velvet cake
35. Learn contentment in everything

I think this is a good place to start.