500: Things I want to accomplish in life
When I was home in California for the holidays, I had a grand time rummaging through old photo albums and high school yearbooks for #throwbackthursday Instagram gold. Nestled among my high school senior will and a shoebox of middle school snapshots taken on a disposable camera, I discovered a list of what I wanted to accomplish in life.
I vaguely remember writing it when I was 18 (and finding it to cross things off after college graduation): on the brink of my second year of college, I had just returned from 10 days gallivanting around Italy with a group of friends from high school. We watched the sun set over the river in Florence, taste-tested every cocktail possible, ate gelato outside the Colosseum. I was a bit more volatile, more determined, more fiercely concerned about how the world would define my success.
I feel good about what I’ve accomplished on this list. I graduated magna cum laude with a degree in journalism, fell in love as a bright-eyed college senior. I killed two birds with one stone when I worked as a bartender while living in Nice. I’m currently living in New York City. I’ve visited Sweden, had quite the extended visit in Australia. Not only did I visit the Caribbean, I learned how to spell it. I can definitely rock a pair of high heels. More often than not, I’ve loved my jobs: my latest roles have been small companies I’m passionate about, products that I would pitch even if I wasn’t getting paid.
And then, I’ve done things that I never would have imagined possible when I sat down to write this list. Visited Barcelona, Berlin, Bali. Backpacked through Western Europe, Southeast Asia. Sailed through Croatia, from Panama to Colombia. Driven across the USA. Broke up with that boyfriend who I fell in love with. Quit that job that I thought would be my successful career path.
Even so, I’m still working on the rest of the list. South Africa and Greece are still at the top of my must-visit list. I do want to get married, have children, own a home. I’d like to live close enough to a beach and/or the mountains so that I can get my adrenaline rush quota satisfied year-round.
And then, I’ve added more things to what I want to accomplish in life. Go to India to get certified to teach yoga. Start my own business. Write a book. See a World Cup game live. Do a road trip around New Zealand, backpack through South America. More than just fall in love, have a healthy and rewarding relationship. Maintain my closest friendships. Make my parents proud.
This is my 500th post on C’est Christine. I’m not sure how I’ve filled up 499 other posts: my capacity for wordiness knows no bounds, it seems. It’s been almost three years, and I’m so grateful for this little corner of the internet, this space where I can share my thoughts, my dreams, my fears. I don’t know if I would have accomplished nearly so much on this list if it wasn’t for this blog, a place where I can share my goals and be held accountable simply because I’ve put them out there.
So, thank you. Thanks for reading, for commenting, for reassuring. I’m thankful for being able to add “had a blog” to that list, no matter how much longer it goes on.
For a little extra inspiration: check out the pre-marriage bucket list that I wrote in my very first month of blogging!
