43 things

I was checking out this website and it half-inspired me, half-depressed me. The inspiration came from my love of such master life lists, and the depression came from the things people chose to put on their list of 43 things they want to do with their lives.

I like to be inspired. Sometimes I depend too much on other people to be inspirational and when they don't rise above average (which is their right, as it is mine) I view them with criticism. There are so many people drifting through life, or frantically paddling in the wrong direction when we can be so much more.

So what do people want to do with their lives? These are some of the 43 things people wanted to do with their lives, with my accompanying cynical comments:

"grow in my relationship with Christ" Well that's just sad. It's not even cute like the 5 year old who stays up til 2am in hopes of spotting "Sanna".

"make enough money so that money doesn't matter anymore" Sigh. It's sad how many people haven't caught on to the curse of money...the more you have, the more it matters. Money always matters. Only your state of mind can overcome that curse. And not many people reach that state.

"grow taller" Unless they're under the age of 18, GOOD LUCK. These people must enjoy beating themselves up for not reaching their goals.

"Read (insert book here)" If the books people put on their lists were challenging, or monumental, or in another language it would be cool. But people want to read "The Davinci Code" or "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanence". I want to ask them if they are dyslexic or are illiterate, otherwise just read the damn book.

"do 50 sit-ups a day" This person missed the part about this being a lifelong list, and not a "43 things to do this year" list. What are they going to do when the arthritis sets in?

"watch Grey's Anatomy" Wow, well this person is AMBITIOUS. What else is on their list? "Paint my toenails red"? "try a new brand of mouthwash"?

"dance like nobody's watching" Can we get some originality on aisle 9? What else was on this person's list...let me guess: "love like I've never been hurt", "sing like nobody's listening" (call my mom on the last one, she is really good at that).

"make a new friend" Make a new friend? A single friend? Over the rest of your life? This person must be very unfriendly. I think the person was probably going for beauty through simplicity, but that's just laughable.

"save someone's life" At first glance, this goal seems honourable. But think about it. If someone was dying before them and it wasn't on their list would they just turn their back? "Nah, that goal didn't make the list...sorry man" or what if they reach 80 years of age and haven't reached their goal yet? Do they stab their wife and then call 911 and pass her a gauze pad to reach their life goal of saving a life? I prefer more concrete goals, like "become certified in first aid", or "become a paramedic" or even "go to a disaster zone to help victims".

"pass the bar exam without going to law school" I didn't know that was possible. What the hell am I spending all this money on?

Ok, so I'm uberjudgmental. Well here are some of the ones I liked: "learn to speak (insert language here)", "visit every single continent" (hopefully this person doesn't cheap out and avoid Antarctica), "make out in a red telephone booth", and for its entertainment value, "become a better witch". Overall, there were not very many unique, concrete, admirable goals.

I will be working on my list over the next few days. I've always wanted to create a checklist (creating lists is a passion of mine) but needed a magic number. 43 will be my number, for now. I reserve the right to add more things, replace things, and remove things when I get older and smarter and realize that certain things aren't worthy of my master list.