Time's up!

About 2 1/2 years ago, I made a list of 10 things I wanted to do before I turned 40. Well, I have only one day left and I'm sorry to report that I achieved very little on my list.

Here's an update on the list:

1. Visit Italy. No plans, but still hope to go one day.
2. Skydiving. I don't see this happening in the near future. After a recent roller coaster ride nearly gave me a heart attack, I'm thinking jumping out of an airplane might not be a good idea.
3. Take a hot air balloon ride. Still hoping.
4. Run a 5K. I have signed up to participate in a 5K at the end of this month, but I don't think I'll be doing much running. Just jogging a little is still difficult.
5. See the Grand Canyon. I actually forgot this was on the list. I did go to Las Vegas in December. I guess I really should have gone then.
6. Own a red Mustang convertible. Finances have made this a pretty low priority. But it's still my car of choice.
7. Highlight my hair. Been there, done that. I'm actually at a point now where I've stopped coloring my hair. I don't love the gray that's starting to show, but I'm undecided about whether to resume the coloring.
8. Sing karaoke. I'm still not able to do it by myself, but I did do it as part of a group. That's the best I can hope for at this point.
9. Plant a garden. I tried to grow a few herbs in small pots on the patio. They died after about two weeks.
10. Paint my walls. I picked out colors, but have no immediate plans to actually paint.

I really hope you've read to this part, because now I'm going to list 5 things I have done since making the original list that have made my life better.
1. I've met the best group of friends. In many cases, I feel like I've known them forever and I can hardly remember a time before they were my friends.
2. I went to Las Vegas. The trip itself wasn't that great, but actually planning a real vacation made me realize just how much I want to go places and see new things.
3. So, on a related note, I went to California. It was one of the best vacations I've ever had. And, even though I spent a lot of money, I had so much fun.
4. I've stopped being a workaholic. I still have days where I work 10, 12 or even 14 hours. But they are no longer the norm.
5. I socialize. Until the past few years, I've always been very uncomfortable in a room full of people I don't know. Now, it's much easier and I usually even enjoy meeting new people. I still have my moments where I get overwhelmed, but generally I'm at least willing to try.

I'm sure I could think of more things for the list, but the point is that while I may not have done everything on the original list, I have done a lot of new things that have made me happy. And as I'm about to turn 40 on Saturday, I'm trying to think about the positive things in my life instead of the negative. I'm struggling with the notion that I'm going to be 40 and I haven't achieved some of my goals, including my weight-loss goal, but I also know that I've achieved a lot. Sometimes, I also realize that the things that were important at one point in my life don't seem nearly as important now. So I don't want to be so focused on what I haven't achieved that I forgot to enjoy what I have.