My 40th Year - 40 Things Challenge! The List!

It was great fun getting people to help me come up with my 40th Year - 40 Things Challenge. Granted I won't be doing all of the suggestions (sorry Dan, no yodeling in the town park), but it got me thinking about some of the things I want to do. Some serious, some foolish, some just for me.

A lot of people asked WHY I wanted to do this and my answer surprised me a bit. I said, I want to have more fun in my life. I won't be remembered for how much or hard I worked. Life is so much more than work and to bring a little joy to this year is both needed and the path I want to take for the long run.

Although I don't really talk about work here - I work all of the time. I spend most moments thinking about work, solutions, ideas... and it is great fun, but it isn't the whole of me - or at least I don't want it to be. I want to have a full robust life 365 days a year for the next 40 years!

One of the best things about asking other people to contribute to my list was to ask other people if THEY wanted to do the things with me. AND surprisingly they said yes! SO, I am opening that up to the universe too (or at least to the 10 people who might read my blog). If you see something on my list that YOU would like to do WITH me - let me know and I will do everything I can to make that happen. It has to be more fun with two, or three, or twelve! Join me!

I will be keeping track of my challenges here on my blog and on 43Things.com. Join me as I experience the next year as if I am living a reality show of my own making!

Jacqueline's 40th Year - 40 Things Challenge!

1. Walk and Win the 2 Mile Walk in the Victorian Classic in Eureka Springs (with Jean)
2. Picnic Somewhere New to me (with Kathy M)
3. Learn to Play Guitar (with Loretta)
4. Learn to Make Soap (with Donna W)
5. Do Yoga Once a Week (starting with a class with Jean)
6. Work Out (to some degree) Every Day (possibly join Gym with Kelly) - Basically move my ass!
7. Take a French Cooking Class (with Peggy)
8. Float the Buffalo River to Gilbert, Arkansas (with Amanda)
9. Do a Silent Retreat at Wattle Hollow and Reincorporate DAILY Meditation Practice (with Kath)
10. Take the Wild Cave Tour at Blanchard Springs Cave
11. Write a Poem Every Tuesday and Read it to Lynn L
12. Love Myself Completely (thanks for the reminder from Donna D)
13. Go on an Overnight Hiking Trip
14. Run My First 5K
15. Turn off the TV one Week a Month (this will be hard to convince my husband to do!
16. Journal Daily (even if it is just ONE word)
17. Write a REAL Letter to a REAL Person Once a Month
18. Finish Nanowrimo in November.
19. Say YES! - (At least more often than I say no) And Document What Happens.
20. Take a Dance Class
21. Practice Being Curious, not Judgmental.
22. Celebrate the Unexpected (Everything deserves celebration! Break out the Birthday Candles!)
23. Practice Paying Attention (Never do anything else while someone is talking to me)
24. Join a Group (or rejoin a group) and Go to Every Meeting (church? book club? Something new?)
25. Get my First Massage
26. Do one "art" project this year (interviews, photos, free hugs in the park, painting... something) and document it.
27. Make a List of Food I haven't Tried and Try All of Them
28. Be Generous (Time, Things, Money - Even When it is Really Hard)
29. Create A Tribe Retreat with My Friends (Like This Lovebomb Retreat)
30. Entertain (casually) at Least 5 Times at our Home (book club, cookout, dinner party...)
31. Get my Passport (and one for everyone in the family)
32. Speak in Public Somewhere I Haven't Spoken Before or On A Subject I Haven't Spoken About
33. Go Someplace with my Family we have Never Gone Before.
34. Finish my Dad's Probate
35. Save a Nest Egg (Starting from Zero - Let's See Where we can Go!)
36. Do a Daily To Do List - (The Goal isn't to DO everything, but to download it from my mind)
37.  Hug one new person a week (preferably someone I have not hugged before) (Submitted by Melodye!!!)
38. Take photographs of the challenges to create a book of this amazing 40th year. (Great suggestion!)
39.  
40.  

As you can see I am short by 2. I didn't do anything that is really DARING. No karaoke (the bars here all have smoking and that would be a turn off), sky diving, building a friends pizza oven, travel (I know what is realistic in our budget!)! But I am sure there are 2 more things that need to be done... any suggestions now that you have seen the list?

I am ready to start my Amazing Year!