Wednesday, July 16, 2008

2Do before I die....am I done?

While reading the book "2Do Before I Die", I realized that all the stories about things "to be done" were written by 20- and 30-somethings. I struck me that these were kids - how could they know how it feels to be desperate to make sure you get everything done before you die. And then I realized I had done the same thing - when I was 32, I got out of my dead marriage and dead life. I bagged the whole thing and started living. I did some things that wreaked havoc on my life and my relationships, but when I look back now, I realized I was doing my "2Do" list back then. I 1) found the love of my life and waited for him to marry me, regardless of the cost, 2) flew to London at the spur of the moment just because I had to leave my life 3) sang karaoke with my girlfriend in a bar 4) took ballet lessons- again 5) resolved my feelings about my high school sweetheart 5) vacationed wherever I wanted, including Hawaii, the Bahamas, a cruise, St. Thomas, the mountains, the beach and a monastery 6) lost weight when I wanted 7) got married again before 40 and 8) had my sons, both after i turned 40.

What else is left? It seems like my list now is so small if you take away all the "repeat" things that I was to redo. I vacilate between feeling grateful that I did all those 2Do things and sadness that they are already done and I am past that point in my life. Or do I just need to figure out what those new things are? If I try to make a list now, I find myself just wanting to do (or be able to do) the things I did when I was younger that made me feel good. Not easy when I'm dealing with health battles that leave me feeling 80 and wishing for the retirement home. But I'll try, damn it, I'll try. I'll keep trying to make that list - and do that list - until I'm too tired to write, type or think. At least I hope so.

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