Monday, September 5, 2011

The Idea

I know you are thinking this is a bit morbid, but let’s think about it, your obituary is the last thing people learn about you. And how do you want that to read?
“She was born, raised, and lived in her hometown her whole life. A hard worker, she was a valued employee.”
That’s the best I can come up with right now. I’m not satisfied with that.
One of the founders of the store I work for passed away recently. His obituary read of a full life, one of accomplishments and achievements. This got me thinking about my life, and admittedly, reading the obituary column in the local paper. Some were sad, having passed away far too young; most were standard. Some were boring.
I decided I didn’t want a boring obituary. Or even a standard one.
Not only did I not want a typical obituary, but my ten year high school reunion arrived and I realized I had done very little with my life and had nothing really to show for those past ten years.
So I made a pack with myself, I would live a life worthy of an extraordinary obituary. This meant taking chances, living out side the box, doing things that scared me, not doing what is expected, but doing things to make myself happy. Also included in this is trying something I may not want to do, because you honestly never know how one event might influence another. I told myself I have to do one obituary worthy act a month…and then I changed that to every two weeks. I changed that again to every week.
So what can I do different each week? What will count towards my goal? There are the extremes; sky diving, bungee jumping, white water rafting. I can write a song one week, a poem the next. Travel to some place I’ve never been, either far away or local. Stay up all night to watch the sun rise. The point is to do something and create a tale from it, which sometimes may not be a nail biting exciting one, but it may also be thought provoking, funny, or simply sweet.
This week’s adventure is making myself accountable for this pack, thus documenting my progress here.

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