“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them”-Walt Disney

Dreaming and setting goals is something I find very important.  Once you have an idea of what you want, it is much easier to get it.  One of the best teachers I’ve had was my grade 9 English teacher. He taught us the power of the human mind.  You can create your future with your thoughts is what his lesson was.  Once you’re in a good mindset and dreaming, you have confidence, strength and passion.  The next step is acting on the dreams and remembering not to take anyone’s negativity too seriously.  There are very few things that are impossible. 

Below is my life list. I have crossed out the things I have accomplished so far (36/139) and indicated the date I accomplished it.  Keep in mind I was 13 when I originally wrote most of these goals so one or two of them may sound silly (ex. “Do not watch television for four days in a row”. That was actually a challenge for me at the time but now I can go months with no television). 

What do you think of life lists? Is there something that you’ve always wanted to do?

Visit:
1. New York-Times Square, AMNH, Empire State Building  (July 30^th, 2010)

Times Square photo I took on my NY trip

2.  Las Vegas
3.  Florida-disneyworld (July 30th, 2013)
4. Hawaii
5. California
6. Bermuda

7. Mexico

8. Every province in Canada

9. Chile

10. Jamaica
11. St. Lucia
12. Spain
13. France-eiffel tower, louvre museum, st. tropez

14. England (again) (Aug. 14^th, 2011)

Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings in London
photo taken on my trip in 2011

15. Scotland 

16. Ireland
17. Denmark
18. Sweden
19.  Switzerland 

20. Greece

21. Netherlands

22. Romania

23. Italy-the Coliseum, Vatican

24. Turkey

25. China-great wall, mount taishan

26. Japan

27. India-city of Varanasi, taj mahal

28. Cambodia-angkor wat (to watch a video of the beautiful city:
 http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/ancient/lost-tombs/angkor-wat-video.html)

29. Sydney, Australia
30. Nigeria
31. Zimbabwe  
32. Egypt-kayak down the Nile, great pyramids, sphinx
33. Explore the amazon

Photograph:

34. Snow lepord (August 3^rd, 2008 at T.O. Zoo)
35. Macaw (August 3^rd, 2008)

My macaw photo 

36. Golden Lion Tamarin Monkey (August 3^rd, 2008)
37. Chimpanzee
38. Liger
39. Ocelot

40. Taj Mahal

41. Eiffel Tower

42. CN Tower( August 16^th, 2007)

One of many CN Tower
photos taken by me

43. A Great Pyramid

 44. Victoria Falls

45. Sphinx

46. Machu Picchu

Accomplish:

47. Ride in a hot air balloon
48. Learn to speak French
49. Learn to speak Spanish
50. Learn to swim
51. Read some works of Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Dickens, Twain and Thoreau (May 2^nd, 2009)
52. Read the whole bible (in progress)

53.Ride an elephant (July 29^th, 2011)

Riding an elephant!

54. Explore the ocean in a submarine
55. Dig to find a fossil or bone
56. Get on a game show
57. Get driver’s license (2013)
58. Graduate high school with honours (June 28^th, 2010)

59. Get Bachelor’s or Honour’s Degree from university (2014)
60. Apply for optometry (or med) school
61. Learn to use a sewing machine  (January 28^th, 2009)
62. Make chocolate (July 10^th, 2009)

 Chocolate truffles made byLDWondertwin #1 and I 

63. Invent or design a product
64. Attempt a Guinness World Record

65.Watch every Harry Potter movie and read every Harry Potter book (July 17^th, 2011)

66. Do 200 sit-ups or crunches (with minor breaks)
67. Adopt an animal and raise funds for an endangered animal
68. Try parasailing or paragliding
69. Attend a masquerade ball or party
70. Paint with oil on a canvas (March 20^th, 2009)
71. Hula hoop for 30 minutes (non-stop)  (July 18^th, 2008)
72. Talk to a scientist about life
73. Make a list of 100 questions I want answered and attempt to find possible answers (in progress)
74. Ride an ostrich

75. Catch a fish (August 30^th, 2009)
76. Watch all the 'Best Picture' Academy Award winners from 1980-2005 (August 14th, 2012)
77. Don't watch tv for 4 regular days in a row (February 28^th, 2006)
78.Write to a famous person and get a reply
79. Retrace the steps of Alexander the Great
80.Go on “dropzone” at Wonderland (June 29^th, 2011)
81.See the aurora borealis
82. Walk and raise money for a cause (Terry Fox Run-September 29^th, 2006)
83. Memorize Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I have a dream” speech (March 14^th, 2006)

84. Learn to play a song on the piano (Summer 2005)

85. Go through the John Muir trail, US.

86. Own a dog

87. Watch a fire walking ceremony in South America

88. Get a song recorded

89. Learn to juggle (August 2007)

90. Learn to play the recorder (May 12^th, 2006)

91. Locate all 12 zodiac constellations through a telescope

92. Plant a tree

93. Become familiar with compositions of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin

94. Go to a live comedy show

95. Learn to read hieroglyphics

96. Experience zero-gravity

97. Donate blood

98. Ride a cable car to a mountain top

99. Attend a major sporting event (ex. Wimbledon, Olympics etc.)

100.  Try oysters, clams, or octopus (January 26^th, 2011)

101. Go to a legit concert  (July 2, 2012)
102. Learn Esperanto

103. Visit a chocolate factory

104. Go skydiving

 105. Go whale-watching

106. Type 50 words a min.  (July 2^nd, 2006)

107. Learn to photoread (July 18^th, 2008)

108. Own a house with huge yard space and personal library

109. Go zip lining

110. Write a book

111. Get a book or story published (Short story published in anthology) (September 23rd, 2013)

112. Collect 100 books (~70/100)

113. Collect 50 bookmarks (July 5^th, 2011)

114. Have a lucid dream

115. Write my autobiography
116. Swim with dolphins
117. Visit and/or have cake made by Carlos' Bakery
118. Donate at least $1000 to a non-animal charity (see #67)

119. Face and get over my fear of spiders and mice

120. Climb all the way to the top of a rock-climbing wall  (July 1^st, 2011)

121. Have (or adopt) children

122. See cirque du soleil or a similar show (Apr. 27^th, 2012)

123. Be good friends with someone on every continent

124. Help someone abroad in any way I can (Dec.- April 2013)

125. Make it a goal to thank at least 10 people who have helped me more than they realize

126. Create an amazing collection of photos from all my travels (in progress)

127. Be in a parade

128. Participate in a medical research (May 2015-present)

129. Run in a marathon

130. Give an inspirational lecture to a crowd of over 100 or have an inspiring article published

131. Own a red convertible or sleek black or silver car

132. Ride a mule across the Grand Canyon

133. Make lasagna (July 14^th, 2011)

134. Go on a train journey through a beautiful scenic place

135. Host a large dinner party (preferably in my own house)

136. Be featured in a newspaper or magazine

137. Stay in a uniquely themed hotel
138. Attempt the "Behemoth" at Wonderland for a second time (August 21, 2012)
139. Pay for someone to go on vacation

Walt Disneyland, Florida

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”- Confucius

Stepping into the lake (photo by me)

I feel like my first blog should basically define me; who I am, what I stand for and what I'm doing with my life (summarized).

I can throw out random things about me such as my favourite movies, books and interests.  But that’s not me and you can easily click on "view my complete profile" on the top left hand corner of the blog to view that fun stuff.  Basically, I’m someone who is aware of what I want and how to get it. I value my life and don’t want to waste any of it. I think that the world is a truly beautiful place and is filled with lots of interesting people.  In fact, everyone has a good story to tell. The problem is that there’s either no one willing to listen to it or in fact the person  is too caught up in their self to tell it.  

While the world is beautiful and the people are great, sometimes things get out of hand.  I think that alcohol and cigarettes (along with every other thing there is to smoke) should not exist.  I hate the thought of getting drunk, smoking weed and having mindless sex with random people.  It annoys me when people don’t realize their own potential.  It annoys me even more when people just blindly follow others and don’t think for themselves.  Low self-esteem is my biggest pet peeve.  Coming at a close second is when people use their rough past/childhood as an excuse for everything. Like, get over it. I can almost guarantee that about 90% of the  world's adult population had a rough childhood but there are those who choose to not let that stop them from having a great future. These are just my personal beliefs and I won't "hate" on anyone who partakes in these activities, I'll just be annoyed (not that it should matter to them because it is a free world after all).

Besides losing my family and friends, my greatest fear is losing myself.  That is, losing my desire for adventure and knowledge.  I dread the thought of becoming a workaholic who has no time to enjoy life.  I also don't like the thought of having no one fun and understanding to share life adventures with.  I don’t think there would be anything sadder than traveling the world alone, for example.  “Happiness isn’t real if it isn’t shared” a friend pointed out to me once.  It’s so true.  

There are so many things I want to accomplish in my life.  I created this life list after reading about a brilliant man named John Goddard in a school textbook once. I needed that inspiration and it came just in time.  I was bored with life. I was only 13 but already school had become the most boring routine in which I felt like I learned absolutely nothing day after day and was just wasting my time even going.  During class sometimes I’d talk so much and do random nonsense that the teacher would have to stop and stare at me to shut up and pay attention.  I just wanted to learn. It was the one and only time in my life that I felt like life had no purpose.

I just read and read. I read things I was actually interested in; things that made me feel enlightened.  I began reading philosophy (particularly Confucius’ Analects, Aristotle and Plato) and National Geographic articles online.  One day I brought home the textbook from school and just opened and started reading that too, when I stumbled upon the great story of John.  He was 15 when he created his life list of 127 items.  He had completed 109 of those amazing things which included climbing mountains, flying aircraft, exploring the world, writing a book and much more. (see his list here http://www.johngoddard.info/life_list.htm ).

It was then, back in 2005, that I was inspired to create my life list (see next blog).  Making a list, some would say, is a set up for disappointment but that’s not how I see it. I see it as an adventure, it keeps life exciting. I’d have fun doing it and wouldn’t be disappointed if I didn’t accomplish it all, but I probably will accomplish it all. :)