One of the reasons I love the Internet so much – and one of the reasons I felt compelled to begin blogging myself – is because of the amazing, inspiring people and blogs I’ve read over the years. I don’t always read them regularly, but I love when I type in a URL and see a bunch of new content on one of my favorite blogs. It’s like a mini-Christmas!
Many of the blogs I read regularly and find most enjoyable/inspiring are on the sidebar to the right. The one I want to talk about in particular today is Mighty Girl.
Maggie Mason (aka Mighty Girl) made up a ‘Mighty Life List’ of 100 things she wants to do before she goes awhile ago and has been making her way through it. I just have to say that I think Maggie is the bee’s knees and I have a huge friend crush on her. Can we be friends, Maggie?
I have been thinking about the things I want to do in my life for a long time. I think the first time I made a life list was in high school. I wish I knew where it was, so that I could compare my list then and my list now to see what has changed.
I’m going to share my life list in – almost – its entirety. There are a few things I’m leaving out because, well, they are a little TOO personal.
- Go kayaking
- Take a Zumba class
- Go climbing at an indoor rock wall
- Take a yoga class
- Fall in love
- Get married
- Give birth
- Own a dog (again)
- Travel to Austin, TX
- Travel to San Francisco, CA
- Travel to Charleston, SC
- Travel to Savannah, GA
- Travel to Chicago, IL
- Travel to Ireland
- Travel to Vancouver
- Travel to New Zealand
- Travel to Australia
- Travel to France
- Travel to Spain
- Travel to Germany
- Travel to Switzerland
- Travel to Italy
- Travel to the Greek Isles
- Go on a cruise
- Run a 5K (again)
- Run a half marathon
- Do a zip line in a rain forest
- Become conversational in a language other than English
- Get a massage
- Drive cross country
- Watch an animal be born
- Watch a baby be born
- Learn to sew
- Learn to knit or crochet
- Learn to change a tire
- Get a tattoo (again)
- Host a surprise party
- Ride a horse (again)
- Cut my hair short (again)
- Go skinny dipping (again)
- Be able to cross legs comfortably
- Be able to sit Indian-style comfortably
- Fly first-class
- Go back to York, England (where I studied abroad in college)
- Go to a big music festival (Coachella, SXSW, etc.)
- Sing in a choir
- Learn to play the guitar
- Grow a garden
- Make a Thanksgiving dinner
- Learn to ski
- Make a pie from scratch in my great-grandmothers pie pan
- Put flowers at my aunt & uncle’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery
- See a live taping of Saturday Night Live
The thing that makes me sad about my list is that some of these things – for example, 39 & 40 – are very unremarkable. For most people, these are things that they do every single day with no issue and no thought. I can’t do either of them because of my weight. In fact, I don’t think I’ve EVER crossed my legs comfortably.
Same goes with the traveling. Flying gives me crazy anxiety. Not because I’m afraid to fly in a metal tube at 30,000 feet – but because I hate cramming myself into one of those tiny seats. I feel horribly uncomfortable and self-conscious and I avoid flying because of it. I want to get to the point where I don’t even have to think or worry about that.
And numbers 1-4…again, nothing too remarkable. But they are all things that I am way, way too self-conscious to do right now. Could I do them all now? Sure. But I don’t think I’d be able to really enjoy myself because I’d be too worried that my fat was flopping around or that I was grossing other people out.
I’ve read time and time again from people who’ve lost a lot of weight that that while losing weight makes life easier, but it doesn’t make it perfect. I have no illusions that as soon as I lose 100+ pounds that my life will be all rainbows and butterflies. I will still have bad days, I will still have hang-ups, and Lord knows I will still have a boatload of insecurities. But I’m looking forward to the time when my weight will no longer hold me back. Technically, yes, I know that it’s not MY WEIGHT holding me back. It’s ME holding me back.
In the meantime, I’m going to begin chipping away at my life list. What on YOUR life list?
