YOLO Twice! (The Bucket Lists)
The general idea that we are entitled to one opportunity to life is a valid one. We only get one chance of approximately 110+ years (if we are good and avoid conflict, make the right lifestyle decisions and live in a nice country house somewhere along the Mediterranean feeding on fish, fruit and olive oil) to milk life's opportunities for all they are worth.
One life to live to chase our dreams; see the Northern lights; ride a sluggish camel beneath the Middle Eastern sun; laugh with a stranger as you buy a brochette on the streets of Marrakech; paraglide from the top of Mount Salève; snorkel in clear unknown acquamarine waters; drink from a cactus in the Galápagos island; touch the ashy, leathery hide of a 8 ton elephant; take selfies with a colourful priest in Kathmandu; eat crunchy locust as tribute to Pumba and Timon; find an actual Nemo in Great Barrier Reef; crack those lovely castanhas on the streets of Lisbon; sky dive; fall in love; buy a ferret; write a book; write another book- an auto-biography naturally; all these and much more in 110 plus or minus 10 years.
It's ambitious, i know, that we only get one shot to accomplish all these things, if at all you care to. I, honestly, am only interested in the food-related ones except the locust.
I don't know about you but I really wonder if i am going to make the most of this "You Only Live Once" thing. Would I be tagged as an under-achiever because i don't tick all these boxes?! Who cares? If i don't, it's completely ok, it turns out that We, actually, Only Live Once, Twice!
Yup, you have a second chance, pay Drake no mind!
We live here on earth and do all the aforementioned (or not) and then we live again! This time we are given an eternity to do what we want; to cloud-surf with Gabriel and Michael, to be reconciled with old friends that left us ages ago, to sing and love endlessly on God and to play contact sport with Grandpa Abraham, to fly around town with your earthly spouse and splash around in choc fountains with friends, to sing to God new songs and to live in a city, which no longer has the sun as its light but the creator as its only source of illumination and the son as its lamp.
I know i joke around a lot on PGI but it's necessary to have it said out loud: Life is fun. It's full of color, opportunities and all the excitement that would probably outlive most of us, but there is another life after, its centered around God and his Son, Jesus Christ. He wants everyone to be part of it. If you don't know him yet, you can, just click here!
The itinerary for that life will be like 50 shades of lit. I'm not even kidding. L.I.T. Make the most of the life you live in though, see the world, build relationships, eat weird (healthy) stuff, dance and play, it's all a foggy rehearsal of the life to come!
Please share. You never know who you might help. What are your imaginations about heaven? I'm into food-related adventure, as you can tell. If the Angels eat manna, do we get to have a menu too? Num.
What's Wrong with Turning 30?
I recently turned 28.
Gasp! I wrote out my age! Why is age such a sensitive topic? A person would ask, 'How old are you?' Suddenly things on our bodies get tight and our breath gets cut in half, we start hyperventilating, our eyes dart around the room. After reluctantly answering the question, the person asking immediately starts calculating the difference, mean and standard deviation of their age from ours! Lol!
I always thought I had embraced my age until the eve of 26. 25 was such a fun age and I especially loved the '5' at the rear but with 26, 30 seemed nearer, and with the scary 30, you are so much closer to 50!
30, the age where your mid-rif won't let you be great and wear a crop top. By the way, who decided to reach into the 80's and bring back crop tops.....*side-eye* 30, the scariest age, even scarier than 40. I think by 40, you've made your peace with life, the elements and the wheel had been handed over to God, the Son.
I've decided to to hit the ground running with 30; by making a pre-30/ 30th birthday bucket list. If you are terrified of hitting 30, maybe you should too!
I would have written a list of to-do's before 30 here, but mine is pretty personalized and not everyone wants to go whale-watching, or fly to Rio or dye their hair red. Plus the jury is still out on the red hair.
One of the best ways to feel fulfilled every birthday, and even everyday, is to have achievable goals listed and achieving those goals through actionable steps. It's crazy but it's the way humans are wired. Fulfillment comes with achievements, which is why Maslow's hierarchy of needs, shows the several levels of the needs of man and right at the top is self-actualization. Man needs self-actualization!
According to Maslow, self-actualization is the desire for accomplishment; to be everything a person can be; to achieve all things within one's ability and sometimes beyond. Man's most apparent need is to be able to strive and obtain, which when partnered with hard work and the grace of God, is pretty close to perfect!
If you write out goals before 30, make concrete plans to achieve them. Even if by 30 you aren't quite there, you'd be on track and 30 will fly right by. You wouldn't even notice.
Something tells me Mark Zuckerberg wasn't scared of 30. Oh, Shut up, Something!
If you are 30 and above, of course you can write a list too! If not YOU then WHO?! Also remember to tell us under-30's what to expect. Are you spooked by 30? Do you have a pre/post 30 bucket list?