Yesterday was one year since setting up my “bucket list” at 43 Things. I haven’t reported in a while, so I just did. At the end of last June, I named goals 1,2,3,5,7,8,11,17,27,34, and 36 as my priorities, and I updated each. I also added information for 12,14,15,21,31, and 35.
Overall, progress is slow. I have done some work to move a few of the things forward, but not enough to be significant in anything. Where’s my passion?
It occurs to me that, as I mention it in a few of my updates, I have a great schedule correlating all my goals with activities and routines set in place to achieve them. I should put some of that up here.
For those not inclined to go through and read my progress reports on any individual goal, here’s the list itself:
1. Make detailed notes on the character and ministry of Jesus Christ from the Bible and Book of Mormon, and work on imitating every one
2. Collect a family history, and do all temple work for at least ten generations back
3. Share the gospel with 100 people a year
4. Study each of the Teachings of Presidents of the Church manuals cover to cover
5. Make a habit of reaching out to people in service and appreciation
6. Go on a mission with my wife
7. Minister to my home teaching families every month
8. Help bring the Book of Mormon to wider, general attention in the world
9. Travel throughout Europe with my wife, including to Houston village in Scotland
10. Ride Route 66 from end to end on a Harley with my wife
11. Do something overwhelmingly romantic for my wife every month
12. Make sure my kids have tons of fun, loving memories from their childhood
13. Learn tango, swing, salsa, and ballroom dancing with my wife
14. Read the entire Harvard Classics and Great Books of the Western World series
15. Meet all the requirements an Eagle Scout would have to meet
16. Publish a novel
17. Every school year, get at least a few people to have positive experiences with good literature, demonstrate logical thinking in vivid writing, and think critically about their media culture
18. Earn a Ph.D. in English
19. Publish useful scholarly research, both secular and religious
20. Become really good at chess
21. Open up and be more friendly
22. Learn to play piano and acoustic guitar, and play a great jazz drum solo
23. Learn fencing
24. Own a genuine Scottish Claymore sword and a Japanese katana
25. Become proficient in kung fu
26. Grow a beard (at least for a little while!)
27. Learn Mandarin Chinese
28. Learn Latin and all the Romance languages…except French!
29. Live somewhere green and rainy
30. Learn to speak Gaelic
31. See every non-R rated movie on AFI’s “100 years, 100 movies” list
32. Finish 50 New York Times Sunday crossword puzzles
33. Ride in a bike marathon
34. Be more optimistic and say fewer sarcastic things
35. Become familiar with all the major works of Western art
36. Get really good at yoga
37. Get really good at sketching and drawing
38. Act in a great play
39. Learn to sing
40. Become familiar with the works of all the great classical composers, as well as with all the major jazz and blues works of the 20th century
41. Go camping in the mountains for a week, alone
42. Publish a cartoon in The New Yorker
43. Work out all the problems in my math textbooks from college
Gently Hew Stone 