Intro to 365

T minus 2 days until my 29^th Birthday.  I’ve been taking this one hard.  I guess its because there is so much if feel like I should have already accomplished and/or experienced by now.  My mom had me when she was 21 so I remember when she turned 30.  I also remember that I could not believe she was so old.  Now I’m at my last year before 30, the last year of my youth (or at least that’s how it feels, although I should have been feeling a bit more grown up a long time ago).  No more excuses at 30.  You can’t say, oh, I’m in my 20s, I’m still figuring things out.  I feel like when you are 30, you have your act together.  I am nowhere near having my act together.  So as this birthday has been approaching and I’ve been feeling more and more depressed about it.  I realized I was going to spend my “last year of my youth” depressed, miserable, and feeling hopeless, unless I took action and did something about it.  So I started to think, what can I do that would really round out this decade to make it feel like not such a complete failure?  Yea I have this blog, and I’m writing a book.  But I’ve had the idea for the blog for a few years and I haven’t been as diligent about it as I should be, or at least diligent enough to ever squeeze a career or even a good reference out of it.  So my mission was twofold, figure out what to do, and figure out ways to stick with it.  Then it came to me.  When I was younger, probably 10 years younger, I started to make this list of all the things I wanted to do in my life.  It wasn’t your typical bucket list like go skydiving and visit the Taj Mahal, it was more things I wanted to learn, accomplish, or just simple things that were sentimental to me and would make me feel.  As I thought about it more, I started to wonder how much I could actually squeeze into one year.  Like if I was completely diligent, focused, and determined, how much could I really accomplish in 365 days.  And thus began the list.  I started writing down things large and small, that I wanted to do and could most likely pull off in one year.  Some of it is simple stuff that I should do like call my grandma everyday, some of it are things that I’ve been putting off like relearn Spanish, and others are a little bit more elaborate like ride a horse in Mexico and get a book published.  Some of the ongoing things, like, take Karate and Sword Fighting, which would be a weekly activity, I will count as one each week because its something I’m building.  Same with the Spanish.  Others will only count as one.  

This isn’t a bucket list and some of it may seem mundane.  But the mission isn’t just about doing these things, its about finding my purpose, proving to myself that I can do it.  As the idea began to unfold, I realized that my blog was a perfect place to chronicle this experience.  I also figured it would force me to write, which is what I want to do anyway!  

I’ve planned my birthday week (yes one week) and filled it with tons of fun, and at a few things from my 365 list.  It began yesterday (my birthday not until Wednesday) with a Steeler Game, always a good time.  Today my roommate and I are doing my birthday dinner at our favorite diner, Ritters, then getting a Christmas Tree and decorating the apartment.  Tuesday I have to work, but will probably do something afterward.  Wednesday is my actual birthday, I have an appointment for a massage, then brunch with mom and gram, then manicure and pedicure (courtesy of gift certificate my grandmother gave me LAST Christmas), then fancy dinner party with friends.  Thursday its birthday dinner with family then off to the Vatican Exhibit at the Heinz History Museum (one of the 365 list items).  Friday I work, but after my roommate and a few friends are going dancing.  Saturday I work, and perhaps I’ll try to get the girls at work to go out for drinks with me.  Then it all begins.  365 days (well at that point a few days in) until I’m 30 and I’ll have to get going.  See you on the other side!