What Do You Want From Life?

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.”  Thoreau

I often think about how my life has turned out, the way things have gone, and whether I should be content with it.  I think that generally I am content, but it's so easy to adjust to the way things are and tell yourself that it's OK, because the alternative is to be miserable.  Then there are some days when I am not very happy with anything, and the above quote seems to fit.
 
So when I consider this subject, I tend to break life down into the things that matter, then evaluate my own success, or lack of success, in those areas.  The first step then, is to figure out what is important.  I don't suppose I would necessarily make the same list every time, but it looks something like this:

• Marriage
• Kids
• Family (everyone else)
• Friends
• Work
• Finances
• Health
• Fun
• Experiences

I have more to say about some of those topics than others, but I will try to write a series of posts addressing each one over the next week or two.

Tahiti Update

I posted on Facebook on April 3 that I was starting this puzzle.  Now it's May 16, and I have assembled all of the pieces except the ones that are 100% blue sky, maybe 2/3 of the puzzle complete.  Now comes the hard part.  The bottom part of the sky is much lighter, and I can us color to stratify the pieces to some extent; however, the very top is made of hundreds of quite dark blue pieces, hard to distinguish.  As you can see, I can't even figure out how the border goes together yet.

Still, I'm pretty pleased with my progress.  Just 1,300 or so blue pieces to go.

All Seven Continents

Hmm, might as well start with this:  I doubt that I will make it to Antarctica.  There are cruises that go there, but you really have to make a special trip, and it wouldn't be cheap.  We'll see.

A friend at work has actually visited all of the continents after making the trip to Antarctica last year.  She is not 40 yet, and she has taken so many trips all around the world that she is starting to feel a bit limited regarding new places to go.  I would love to be in that position one day, although I will never catch up with her.

I have already vistied three continents.  I went to Brazil the year I turned 17 and visited Iguaçu Falls and Rio de Janeiro.  I have also visited Europe several times, so that leaves Asia, Africa, Australia, and maybe Antarctica.  All the ones that start and end with "A."

Australia will have to be its own trip.  My parents talked about going to New Zealand, but never made it; it would be fun to stop there as well.

The easy way to see Asia and Africa both would be to take a Mediterranean cruise that stops at Israel and Egypt; however, although I know the Middle East is technically in Asia, I think I would feel like that didn't really count.  I would want to go somewhere more...Asian.  China seems to me about as Asian as you can get, but Japan, Southeast Asia, or even India would probably do.

On the other hand, I would be happy with almost anywhere in Africa.  Egypt, Morocco, South Africa will work.  Still, the "most" African experiences would be to see the wildlife or to visit sub-Saharan non-South-African Africa.  Mount Kilimajaro would be something to shoot for.

All that probably doesn't start until I retire, and only then if we have the money.  Right now, it's all within the realm of possibility, even Antarctica, and it's good to have something to look forward to.

Wednesday Weigh-In

I decided that every other week is sufficient for posting about weight.  I have lost six pounds in four weeks, losing a bit each week.  Not bad.

What is bad is that I am falling into an old Biggest Loser pattern of eating whatever and gaining weight through Sunday, then desperately trying to lose weight Monday and Tuesday to beat the Wednesday weigh-in.  I thought this week would be impossible, but I lost about five pounds in the last two days.

It would be nice to get to a Monday and actually be lighter than the previous Wednesday.

All 50 States

One of my goals has long been to travel as much as I can.  When I was a kid my family traveled quite a bit, mostly within the U.S., Canada and Mexico.  We took a lot of road trips and covered large portions of the country.  I was also fortunate enough to visit Brazil for a month when I was 16, and in my twenties, I travelled to Europe three times and spent six months there total.  Travel dropped off after that, but now I am looking at retirement as a time to start catching up.

I have some ideas of what I want to see, and one goal is to visit all 50 states before I die (after that, there's not much point.)  My dad had the same goal and managed it; it's something to shoot for.  My family has also gotten used to taking road trips, and I think there is enough to see everywhere that we should be able to find something to visit in any state, so it won't be a chore to go to each one just to say I have; instead, it's a way of finding things to see and do.

My rule for counting a state:  I have to actually go there to do something, not just drive through or stay in a motel or stop to eat, which is too bad because it means I have to go back to Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee with some destination in mind.  Airports don't count either, which means I can't count New York yet.

Where have I already been?  I have lived in

• Ohio
• California
• Texas
• Washington

I have visited multiple times

• Indiana
• Florida
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Nevada
• Arizona

That's 10.  On our Lewis and Clark trip several years ago I went to

• Idaho
• Montana
• North Dakota (good to get that one checked off)
• South Dakota
• Nebraska
• Iowa

Several states I went to for miscellaneous reasons

• Alaska (Cruise, another good one to check off)
• Kansas (work)
• Illinois (work)
• New Mexico (Shiprock)
• Colorado (Dinosaur National Monument)
• Utah (Monument Valley)
• Louisiana (Gambling with Jackie)
• Wyoming (Devil's Tower)
• Missouri (Saw the arch when they were building it, 1966)
• Alabama (Jackie's cousin Marley's wedding)
• Georgia (Visited my cousins in 1971)

I feel like I have been all over the country, but the western states are big, so that's just 27 I have seen, with 23 to go.  Hawaii will require a special trip.  We are hoping to take a trip through Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit the town of Stambaugh, Michigan this year, which will knock off three more states that are off by themselves.  All of the other 19 states are contiguous, with Arkansas being the westernmost.  Jackie and I have a plan to drive all the way across the country on I-90 after I retire, which will take us to New England, and if we plan the trip back carefully enough, we could hit all those East Coast and southern states I haven't seen.  We'll throw in D.C. for good measure.

So I have a plan that seems realistic.  That's the U.S.  Next ambition:  the world.