I Wish I'd Done That

I have this thing I call a Life List. It contains all the things I want to do before I kick the bucket – not surprisingly, it’s an ever-evolving project.

On my list – or rather, my List – are languages I want to learn (Spanish, Zulu, Irish and more), things and places I want to see - the space shuttle lift off, the Grand Canyon, St. Lucia (because my father, who travelled all over the world, once told me it’s the most beautiful place he’d ever been), Uluru (because… well, duh), things I want to do – skydive (maybe next life), touch a tiger (some day, I’ll tell you how Ken managed that one and became forever Da Man in my book) and… well. I’d also like to get over the instinctive urge to curl up in a whimpering ball of panic every time I see an equation.

On the fantasy part of my List… wait, ‘fantasy’, you say? Being ever organized - and no, that’s not another way of saying anal-retentive - the List is divided into ‘feasible’ (see above) and ‘not gonna happen’. The latter contains the more impractical, nonsensical and… a-hem outré things that I’d love to do, but am too realistic - or cowardly - to believe will ever occur. Skydiving has moved over here. Having tea with people I admire (like Clint Eastwood, Nelson Mandela, John Cleese and the list goes on), which will not happened because not only do I not move in circles where this would be possible, I’d also become mute with shyness and make a complete fool of myself. Crash a party for Mikhail Baryshnikov (no, wait… already did that). Work with Jacques Cousteau, which unfortunately is now too late. Own a horse and ride it. Have enough money that I could donate a truly staggering sum to MSF. Go on a photo safari to Africa.

And dumping a box of lemon-scented detergent in a fountain.

Deep in my soul, I nurture a fervent wish to some day buy a box of detergent, find a really effective fountain, wait for a beautiful summer’s day, pour in the detergent and sit back to watch the bubbles flow. I have sort of a plan (and we shall not discuss what it says about me that I have an actual plan). It involves calling an official person in the City and discussing my funding of the clean-up. We shall also not discuss what it says about me that I am incapable of doing this without permission.

Clearly, I’m not the only one who has this dream.







What’s on your List?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farber’s Disease: Could Your Child’s Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Be Misdiagnosed?

Image
Joint inflammation or contractures. Nodules (small lumps under the skin or in other tissues). A weakened or hoarse voice. Children with these symptoms may have been diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) or other types of juvenile arthritis . But do they actually have JIA or do they have Farber’s disease? An equine digression When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. This is an adage in the medical world that encourages doctors to not wander off exploring rare and esoteric reasons for a patient’s symptoms. Because most of the time, that hoof beat of a rash likely isn’t the plague, the joint pain more likely a type of arthritis than the bends (especially if the person has never scuba dived) and you get the picture. But once in a while, it actually is a zebra. And even if it’s first identified as a horse, eventually, the stripes come through. It took five years of my parents running around to different doctors before one finally recognized that I had
Read more

13 Things to Know for Rheumatoid Arthritis Newbies + Facebook Live

Image
Getting a diagnosis of any type of chronic illness can throw you for loop. There is so much to know and you have so little energy. My new slideshow for HealthCentral collects 13 things you need to know as an RA newbie : "Receiving a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a moment of strange duality. On one hand, you may be relieved to finally have answers for the symptoms you’ve been experiencing. On the other, it can be incredibly overwhelming to find out you have a chronic illness. Wrapping your head around all the new factors RA brings into your life is a long-term process. Here are some of the things you need to know." See the slideshow on HealthCentral . And in case you missed it, here is the Facebook Live I did yesterday talking about this topic:   
Read more