My Life List

I am a big (read: huge!) fan of making lists. I make lists for everything: from a good old grocery list, to lists of music to download, urgent to-do's, and even stuff I want to purchase in the upcoming months. I am a self-diagnosed day-dreamer, and I will admit that sometimes I can forget to live the present to its fullest because I'm too busy planning for the future (how silly!). So it occurred to me that I would use this little space on the Internet and make a list (which I'm great at!) of all the things I want to accomplish in my life (yes, a bucket list... get over it). That way, I can actually focus on life, knowing that I have my neat little list here to come back to when need be, and then carry on.

Without further ado, I present to you my Life List (sounds a lot less cliché than "bucket list", doesn't it?)

- Go to a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show
-  Learn to cook (at least three delicious and impressive dishes)
- Go to England
- Go to an Ashram in India
- Become a vegetarian again
- Have another child. This time, have a natural birth. (I know this is out of my control... but still)
- Go to Greece
- Move back to New Zealand and settle there for good

My own photo, taken in 2010 in Auckland

- Have a big backyard with a trampoline, a slide, and enough space to ride a bike
- Go to a concert by either: Adele, David Guetta, Tracy Chapman or Pink (or all of them!)
- Become an expert at doing my own nails  (slowly, very slowly, getting there)
- Learn and practice Yoga
- Start meditating at least three nights a week
- Write a book, even if it never gets published
- Decorate my house and love it!
- Buy a professional camera  (accomplished last week!) and learn to take incredible photos (not quite there yet!)...
- ...so I can start taking many more photos and capturing more of life's events
- Learn to make cupcakes (this would probably be bad news for my figure! but who cares?)

Wikipedia Image

- Start a retirement fund (booooring, but necessary)
- Bring my credit card debt back to a healthy amount
- Live in NYC, even for just a sabbatical month
- Become proficient in either Portuguese or French  (even better: on both!)
- Eat at a world-renowned chef's restaurant (such as Tom Colicchio's "Craft")
- Become involved with a charity
- Read another book in German

Available at Amazon

- Become fully self-employed and work from home
- Have my own office there (at home), where I can hang a huge world map and have a photo gallery
- Have a white Christmas again (hopefully, somewhere in the UK)
- Take my son to Scotland to meet that side of Sean's family
- Take a wine class and go to a wine tasting
- Build a big library full of books for my son
- Go to a LUSH Spa
- Be able to run for more than fifteen minutes without feeling like I'm going to die
- Take a trip with friends to an exotic location (somewhere like Sri Lanka, or Burkina Faso)
- Become a lot more crafty. Attempt a DIY project at least once a month.
- Spend one New Year's Eve in NY and watch the ball drop at midnight

I love having many dreams and aspirations: they are essential to motivate you and keep you going, and when times are bleak they become your best ally. But there is a thin line between striving for what you want, and never being satisfied with your life because you are always wanting that something else, something better, something bigger. I think I have a risk of going down that path if I don't stop now and focus. My life is amazing. Sure, it would bring me great joy to accomplish the stuff on this list, but it also gives me great joy to come home from work and find my toddler eagerly waiting for me; or my fiancé bringing me treats after work; or a visit from my mom; or going window-shopping; or pink things; or chocolate sundaes; or sitting at a café with a book. It's usually the simple things that give us greatest happiness, and the people who miss those won't ever feel truly happy. And I don't want that. And I won't let it happen.

Ok, so I know I've been talking about happiness very frequently lately, but after all, there's a reason I called my blog "The Happy Life Of A City Girl", right?

Please feel free to share what's on your Life List. Did you find something on my list that you also dream of achieving one day?