Hello, world. I don’t know if we have ever met before, so let me introduce myself. My name is Jason (that's my handsome face on the left) and I think that we are going to be pretty good friends before its all said and done. I could give you the whole spiel about my life, my physical features, and even what foods I’m allergic to. But I know, even though your head might nod, you don’t care. It’s ok, world. I understand. There’s a lot of bullshit out there in today’s world, and if you don’t bundle up, it will pour all over you. Anyway, enough with this bullshit that I speak of. And if you were truly interested, you could just ask me. So here’s the deal. In my twenty years of existence on this Earth, I have not accomplished a lot. No, I did not get a perfect score on the SAT, nor did I ever win a student government election worth a shit despite my multiple attempts. Even my proudest achievement, a 4.0 GPA was ruined this past summer by an internship where I toiled my life away shipping banners, fixing spreadsheets, and wearing spandex (more on that later). It’s harder to attract women when you tell them that you’ve got an ugly 3.964 instead of that sexy 4.0 that just rolls off the tongue. Not that I would ever condone someone using their GPA as a pickup line.
Recently scorned by my loss of academic perfection, I had looked for ways to become ambitious and challenge myself in different ways. However, the motivation that I badly needed came from of all people, my mother. She and I were having a conversation about college, and I told her, straight up, that I wished it was over. I was tired of dealing with my school about graduation and I was freaking out about finding an internship that would put me in great shape to get a job when I got out of school. And then, my mother suddenly morphed from the caring, understanding person that I’m used into a insensitive motivational speaker. My mother had decided that it would be best to give her son some advice about how a person should never keep wishing for things to happen, instead to make things happen.
I refuse to listen to my mother anymore. Ever since she came down to school and she accused me and my friends of being on drugs, I don’t really listen to what she’s saying other than when she instructs me to take out the trash or to go to bed. But the thing about my mother’s message was that it kind of stuck in a way. She had recently been ill and the whole point of everything that she was saying resounded in my head. “Don’t wish life away. Do something with your life.” Hmmmm. Sounded like a good idea.
To find something to do with my life, I began looking for ideas. My quest to find a challenge had come up empty until I found my “99 things to do before I die” list on my laptop. I had created the list a couple of years ago, out of sheer boredom, to have something to work for. Most of the goals are either a) ridiculously unattainable or b) stupid and the more mature version of myself would never consider most of the list. Plus, I was young and naïve when I made the list, before I had an ex-girlfriend who sucked the life out of me for a year and a half and before I entered college. So I had to severely revise this list if I was ever going to challenge myself to complete it. And that’s what I did.
I have created a list of 99 things that I would like to accomplish before I turn the age of 30. Most of these tasks are pretty simple (ex: do a kegstand, shave my head, etc.), but some of them will require some planning and money (ex: leave the country, attend Spring Break). Also, I didn’t want a life list. I am a very impatient person and I refuse to wait for the rest of my life to accomplish these things. I think that 30 is a sensible deadline for me to complete these tasks, for by the time I reach that age, my life as I know it will be over because of marriage, children, and career. This list is like a make or break kind of thing with my life. I have this feeling that if someone doesn’t complete their life list, they will be on their deathbed knowing that they failed at what they wanted to do with their life. Not for me, ladies and gents. I want to know at a relatively young age whether or not my life is a success. If it is, then that would be awesome. If not, I would have at least 40 years to turn things around. Consider this an elongated short-term goal. I have a lot to complete in nine and a half years. But I think if I can keep myself determined and be persistent, then all of these tasks will be easy.
Through creating the 99 things to do before I turn 30 list, I hope to broaden my horizons and discover the person I really am. In my life, I have always been told what to do or where to go, and now, I want to blaze my own trail in life. This is an opportunity to show myself and the world of my extraordinary capabilities. They may not be as great as they seem, but I would like to think that way, so don’t ruin my hopes here. Life is full of journeys and adventures. I want to experience them. I want feel that exhilaration with the wind in your hair without a care in the world about what you are doing or even where you are going. I want to do things that people always wish to do, but yet they never set aside the time or will necessary to complete them.
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