The 40 Before 40 Challenge
01) Hike the Camino de Santiago. I started planning and saving of this trip when I turned 30. Only life happened and there were set backs. The money I had saved was needed for important habits like eating and sleeping with a roof over my head. I'm not sure I can make it to the Camino before I turn 40...but I can start saving again.
02) Read the whole Bible...again. I'm currently working through the New Testament, next will be the Old Testament. My only fear is the times I've done this in the past it has become more about checking off the reading goal then what I was reading.
03) Finish all the Spanish Duolingo lessons. There are 61 Spanish units. In 2014 I started using the app. I got past the second checkpoint. I haven't signed-in in over two years.
04) Make a life time bucket list. This list would include adventures and goals I've already accomplished to remind me where I've come from and what has already been done as well as the things I want to do plus a few impossible goals to inspire me to keep dreaming.
05) Be debt free. Actually, looking at my current situation, that's a bit impossible without a lottery win (which is also impossible because I don't buy tickets). The real challenge then is to be in better financial shape than I currently am and to be making noticeable progress towards this goal.
06) Be healthy. This is such a vague goal. I do want to be healthier in three year; I am specifically thinking about my physical health. Simply giving a weight or size goal wouldn't really be enough or guarantee health. I am thinking "in shape" might be the goal. I want to eat less junk food, be more active, sleep better, and look better. Tangible goals would be: good eating habits, less inches around my waist, and not feeling tired all the time. There are a few more challenges in this list that might help.
07) Break a bad habit. It can be any habit but the one that I could like to work on is biting my nails.
08) Run a 5km Race. I am not sure this is possible, or even a fair goal to myself. When I was in my teens I had wanted to run a marathon before I was 30 and the Boston Marathon before I was 40. These days my feet hurt even after a walk. It's partly a weight issue but also partly I have bad feet. But starting this coming spring (2018) I will give it a try.
09) Do an unassisted
10) Meet the Doctor. First, for my non-Whovian friends. It is a geeky goal. I would like to meet the Doctor of Doctor Who. Second, I know the show is fiction, I specifically mean I'd like meet one of the actors who has played the Doctor...bonus marks for hugging the Doctor, a picture with the Doctor, and/or an autograph. Third, however much I would enjoy this goal it can not conflict with goal #5. Meeting a Doctor can be hard on the wallet and must be budgeted.
11) See more of Canada. If money wasn't a limiting factor it would have read "visit every province" I don't want to set myself up for complete failure or the impossible. Instead, I want to see a part of Canada I haven't visited or remember visiting (I was born in Albert but have no memories of the west).
12) Explore Ottawa: I've lived in or near Ottawa a few times. It has many things to see and do but I get stuck in my routine. I am not sure how many of activities are needed for a success, here are a few I'd like to do1) Skate on the Rideau Canal, 2) Tour the Parliament buildings 3) Visit the National Gallery, and/or 4) Watch the Canada Day fireworks on the hill. Do you have a recommendation? Leave a comment.
13) Attend a Festival. Self explanatory, it can be any event near or far that has the word festival in its name or description.
14) Hug a llama (or alpaca). This started as a joke. Then grew to a regular statement. I drive by an alpaca far and comment regularly that I want to meet/hug a baby alpaca. We'll see if it happens.
15) Volunteer. I almost feel silly adding this to a list. I've been volunteering since my days in Brownies. I have hours of community involvement under my belt...in my last community. In the last year all my extra hours have been given to serving my local church. A choice I don't regret. However this challenge is specifically about volunteering outside my own church bubble.
16) Try something new. This has become a staple of my bucket lists. It is the perfect challenge because there are always new discoveries, subjects, hobbies, foods, or skills to experience. I am not sure what the "new" will be but I look forward to discovering it.
17) Take a class/course. This is similar to #16. The differences are 1) it must be educational in nature. I'm thinking auditing a class or correspondence. Whereas #16 has a broader scope of possibilities 2) is that it could be a subject that I am already knowledgeable and #16 is something new.
18) (Attempt to) Publish a story. The brackets are added because I realize that while I enjoy storytelling my stories my not actually interest an agent or a publisher. What I can do is submit and that is what I will do. I have four children's stories that I think are the best candidates but who knows maybe this years NaNoWriMo will be the bee's knees.
19) Edit and share a story. I am not a writer. I'm really not or at least I don't think so. I don't find that I enjoy the process of writing but I love sharing stories. I hate writing but I love storytelling. For the ten previous years of participating in NaNoWriMo, I've ended the challenge with a very rough first draft that I've shelved and never shared with anyone. Some of the concepts or characters were neat and I think would be fun to share. So that's this challenge. To do something with something I've written and share it with at least one other human.
20) Do something extreme. I've always thought of sky diving, right now I am not sure what the extreme will be. It could be sky diving, white water rafting, or something else.
21) Try online dating. I want to roll my eyes, this was a request from a few friends. Some have pointed out that if I want to be in a relationship I need to make more of an effort.
22) See the Northern Lights.
23) Let go of stuff. Or better put: "declutter and downsize." Right before I moved I bought a copy of "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" I read the first three chapters. My goal is to read the book (and the sequel) and actually put it into practice.
24) Reread Sophie's World. It took me two and a half years to finish the book the first time and I am not sure how much I understood the first time around. I've been wanting to read it again and maybe even blog about my thoughts. This seems like the perfect motivation.
25) Reread the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. I've read the Hobbit every decade I've been alive except my 30s; giving me only 3.5 years to keep the tradition alive. And I've read LOTR twice...so it's also do another look at.
26) Reread Narnia and more C.S. Lewis. The chronicles of Narnia are another series I've read a number of times. I have loved them. I've also be thinking about re-reading the Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, the Great Divorce, and Till We Have Faces. What other Lewis should I add to my list? Suggests welcome, leave a comment.
27) Give the blog a make over. Something to freshen it up. I've gone as far as dreaming about having its own site and more stuff with a domain change but I'd be happy going for a new layout and look.
28) Finish a project. It can be any project that I started some time before the posting of this message. It could be finish painting that canvas (the one that I've had for seven years) or a knitting project that I've shelved the past five years. Or maybe something else. Completion is the goal.
29) Knit a sweater.
30) Establish a Morning Routine. One of the subjects hobby research is habits. I like thinking about goals, routines, challenges, and systems that lead to success. Much has been written about the important of rising and starting the day well. I don't have a constant routine and I would like that to change.
31) Establish a Night Routine. I've noticed that a successful day starts with how and when I went to bed that night before. What I said about the morning routine is also true for the evening habits. I have something that loosely works but like to add a few things slowly to increase the chance of them actually sticking.
These last goals are all 30-day challenges. I've done a few in the past with mostly successful outcomes. There are some pros and cons to these types of goals that could take a whole post. I recognize that the 21-days to a habit is a myth. It depends on the habit and the person and can take any where from 12-weeks to longer than 8 months. It is also true that to get to Day 500 you need to have a Day 1. That is the motivation behind each of these goals, to start and to try:
32) Practice Contemplative Spirituality. I think this might be my lent this coming year (2018), so it will be longer than 30 days. I'll explain more when it starts.
33) Journal.
34) Exercise. I haven't decided if this is going to be a routine, daily walking, or something else. The success will be 30-days separate from training for the 5km goal.
35) Keep Food Journal. I've read that food records help with establishing healthy relationships with food. Last summer on my 40-day vegan challenge it helped. I think it is worth trying again (after Halloween and Christmas).
36) No Sugar. I am thinking added and processed sugars including glucose-fructose. This will mean no adding sugar to my tea, chocolate, cookies, soda, desserts, and many of the other processed foods I love. I will warn my friends and family before this starts because I suspect I'll be moody during the early days while fighting the sugar withdrawal.
37) Draw.
38) Girlie Experiment 1: Hair. These next two challenges are linked. I wouldn't label myself as a tom-boy but I also consider myself not good at hair and make-up. In many ways it makes my life easier not worrying about hair and make-up. So for 30-Days I want to not only to do my hair, but to try 30 different hair styles.
39) Girlie Experiment 2: Make-up. With the make-up challenge it will be leaving the house with make-up everyday, removing make-up and caring for my skin each night, and trying six new looks or techniques (one every five days).
40) Dance. Yep, 30 days of dance. It could be in conjunction with a class or an attempt at learning some ridiculous routine or might just be me having a solo dance party. However it unfolds there will be dancing.
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