TTDBID

The first TTBID list.

Busy.  I'm just plain busy.  Everything that has ever had to be done is happening right now. I tried writing many times this week but it was never witty or clever enough, and I didn't take any great pictures.  That's what happens when I don't have time to reflect.  When the TTD list gets so long, I tend to long for the future. I hear myself saying, "When I get (fill in the blank) done, then I can relax.  When (fill in the blank) is over, then I can spend more time reading, spend more time walking, spend more time praying, spend some time checking off items from my TTDBID list."  Yes, I've had a Things To Do Before I Die list since I was in 8th grade and decided after watching Anne of Green Gables that I had to see Prince Edward Island, so that was my my #1.  I love having this list.  I love having a record of what I thought would be an important experience in 1988 and how I've taken some chances to check some off, and how I've taken some off of the list.  I really don't think I'll ever snow ski, and I'm alright with that.  If I ever have a chance to go to a mountain in the snow, I'll opt for cozy fires and reading.  Forget the adrenaline rush of downhill skiing and frozen fingers.  Call it old age, or maybe laziness.  But it's off the list. 

The TTDBID list has been good to me.  I have a newer, typed version hanging in my closet and it reminds me of two things.  First of all, I have so much more to experience.  Second, I've done so much already.  It's a nice balance.  When I start to feel over-scheduled, when I can hardly look at a calendar because 2012 is closing too quickly, when my kids shoes don't fit after only 2 months, I start to feel the pressure of time.  Funny thing though, I have the same 24 hours that I did when I first made that list as a bright-eyed-and-bushy-tail kid.  Granted those 24 hours are filled with umpteen responsibilities, instead of endless hours of boredom.  But, the time is still there, all 24 hours of it. I could bemoan lost chances, missed opportunities (and I do), but it's a much happier place for me to instead make plans for the day I ride that dolphin, or see the Northern Lights, or ride in that hot air balloon. 

Oh, and Prince Edward Island - been there.  Checked it off the list in 2000.  Thank you to Kenny who forfeited a beachfront honeymoon to a Canadian province.