Things to do......

More and more people it seems have a life list, those special things they want to do while they're here. When I was younger the idea seemed somewhat pretentious but, as I head for 50 (god it's scary even writing that), I can see the allure.

A friend decided some years ago that rather than things to do, her list would be places to see and that she'd work her way through the alphabet visiting cities. It doesn't sound that ambitious but the reality of getting around 26 cities across the world takes some doing.

Drawing up a life to-do list is harder than it sounds and takes quite a bit of thought. I've never really been one for lists and am still working on mine. It needs to be realistic, affordable and achievable but also inspirational, preferably legal, and with that little edge of mischief, as a humdrum list rather defeats the object. After all where's the excitement in returning your library books a couple of days late or doing a food shop and leaving without claiming the supermarket loyalty points?

I decided that there was nothing wrong with including things I've already achieved over my 48 years as I've been lucky enough to notch up some bizarre experiences, mainly through work, the maddest of which were probably hanging out the back of a Hercules transporter in flight and being a refuse collector for a day. I've done things that were definitely illegal or downright risky (my excuse is I was young and headstrong) but, you know what, I'm glad I did them all the same (and, no, I'm not saying what they were but they're ticked off my list....)

It's also tempting to play safe and go for things that you know you can achieve but the whole idea, in my opinion, is to give yourself the chance to break out, to do things out of the ordinary, to really live. Obviously there has to be a balance, there's no point me putting 'run a marathon' on my list when two weekly sessions of zumba already almost kill me.

A life list may sound indulgent, after all, life is busy enough as it is but since deciding to have one, I've discovered just how satisfying it is to tick another thing off. Last weekend it was 'go to Reading Festival'.

Mine is still evolving. Things will come and go, some will be a big deal to achieve and will take time, others are simple and just require me finally learning to be patient enough to whisk egg whites properly. So, here's my life list, the things I want to do or achieve while I'm around:
See the Northern Lights
Drive a tractor
Learn how to play the flute again (it's true, you can forget, I played as a teenager and now can't get a sound out of it)
Have a book published
Get arrested (although I'd like to give actually being charged with anything a miss please)
Own a pair of Louboutins
Live by the sea
Discover my Irish roots
Change a tyre
Swim in Iceland's Blue Lagoon
Ride pillion again
Drive a car around a race track
Bake the perfect meringue
Become a grandmother (although not for a very long time please boys)

That's mine so far, what would yours look like?