Time in a bottle…

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them…

All too often, time slips away from us and even though the best-laid plans are made, you still have missed opportunities.

I have been keeping up on my “50 Firsts before my 51st” birthday challenge to myself and it has gone really well.  I am actually surprised I have so many, 42 to be exact, and I still have 120 days until my 51st birthday!

So I thought today I would update everyone on what “firsts” I have managed to accomplish in the 245 days I have been 50 years old.  My last update was in March so the list has grown quite a bit.

My 50 Firsts before my 51st Updated List!

1. Climbed the Teotihuacan Pyramids, Mexico City
2. Ate Crickets & Ant Larva, Mexico City
3. Fought professional MMA Fighter, Josh Tyler
4. Did my first Facebook Live Feed, in conjunction with Readyman.com
5. Started Crossfit @Brickwall Crossfit
6. Did my first official Crossfit WoD Competiton
7. Drove thru Donner Pass
8. Camped out in my new car
9. A 17 Year promise finally fulfilled
10. 1st Cortisone shot in my knuckle ever (ouch)
11. 1st credit card strictly for flight benefits
12. Traveled to Barcelona, Spain
13. Tried Calimocho in Barcelona
14. Had coffee & Cake at Satan’s Cafe
15. Fought in an actual Bull Fighting Ring
16. Missed my first flight ever!
17. Tried PODS from Australia (so damn good)
18. “Acquired” my first BOTN banner
19. First punch in the face without a helmet
20. First pour-over in Europe
21. Tried Kumbacha (and liked it)
22. Ran my first International Conference
23. First A-Line bob haircut
24. Ran the Spartan Sprint (and survived)
25. Received my first package from Japan
26. Got my first Hobonichi Planner
27. Started Kali
28. Started my first Happiness Journal
29. Purchased a Paipur Journal
30. Started my first Bucket List
31. Bought my first set of Kali Sticks
32. Started Jeet Kune Do
33. FIKA
34. First Long Black
35. First Shakerato
36. First Gibralter
37. First time demonstrating positions for Kali
38. Tried Baba Ganoush
39. Bought my first Espresso Machine!
40. Purchased our first Dyson
41. First Colonoscopy (and 2nd the next day!)
42. First Affogato

So as you can see, things are moving along nicely and I am quite sure I will go above the 50 firsts before my 51st birthday but I decided to write down EVERY first, no matter what, because I wanted to be sure I had a complete list, and it’s been nice going back over them actually.  Mostly all good memories really…

Now, I know some have asked what I plan to do NEXT year.  Well, again, TIME is always fleeting and I want to experience so much more.  So the idea I have been thinking about is setting goals and trying to reach those goals (big and little ones) within a set period of time.

I know that “101 in 1001” is popular, which is to try to accomplish 101 goals within 1001 days, which is 2.75 years and would go from 12/13/2017 to 09/09/2020 (which is a very cool finish date).  But I may end up with “51 in 501” instead which would end on 04/28/2019 instead.

I don’t know for sure what I may end up doing, but I have started thinking about some of my short term & long term goals already and getting them down on paper, just in case.  If you have suggestions, please feel free to let me know!

Interestingly enough, when I was researching the dates above, I found out that as of today I am 18,508 days old.  If you look at that number and think about 1001 days, it doesn’t really seem like a long time.  But when you consider I am 50 years, 8 months and 2 days old, and 1001 days is 2.75 years, it seems much longer.  I guess it’s all in how you look at time and even how you measure time.

I want my life to be measured in moments, adventures, experiences and explorations, so the minutes, hours, days aren’t soooo important.  But I do want to keep track, because days, especially now, go by so quickly.  And while I can’t slow down time, I can slow myself down and enjoy all those wonderful things within the constraints of time. I just have to be more aware of it passing I think.

Too many people in my life have suddenly been taken out of the time loop we all enjoy, and many of them were unprepared.  When I stand at the gates of Valhalla, I want to know that I spent my time well, that I left nothing out, and that I made a difference to someone, somewhere.  But most importantly, that I got the most out of life, without having too many regrets.  Live. Love. Laugh. Fight. I want all of those things and more. So while some may

Live.

Love.

Laugh.

Fight.

I want all of those things and more. So while some may think all my list making and idea processing is silly, it helps to keep me on the path that I want to end on.

Death will come for us all eventually, and I am perfectly fine with that, although I would like to live well beyond this century and I think I will, if it’s possible soon enough.

But I also know the Nornir have woven my destiny long ago, and while I still have some time left in my bottle, I want to be the one who spreads it around the way I want to…

a little here, a little there…

pouring a bit of it over those who keep me wild…

just for good measure.