Wanting and Doing

I have always wanted to run a marathon.

I have been meaning to start a blog.

I have always wanted to learn photography

I wish I could speak insert language

I have often dreamed of going to insert wherever

You are so lucky to be doing……………

How often do you hear, or say something similar.

My weekend challenge to all, is to re-visit the things you have always said you wanted to do or have been meaning to do.

Make a list in whatever your preferred format for list making is. Phone, tablet, laptop or writing pad.

List the things you have said you always wanted to do, all of them.

Now you are ready for the hard stuff.

Cross out or delete those that are motivated by reasons not all of your own.

For example:

• Was your desire to visit Everest Base Camp authentically your dream or was it said 15 years ago to impress the cute backpacker you met at a cafe?
• When you said you want to go to the South Pole, was that because of genuine curiosity about a wild frontier or just so you can say you have been there?
• And that book you said you want to write, do you have any idea what it will be about or is it more about the glory associated with being the next J. K. Rowling?
• Why do you want the Ferrari? Do you know what you would do with it or is it more to do with an overt display of success?

Can you see what I am getting at?  You will now be getting down to your authentic list.

As Parents, we tell our children they can do whatever they want to. Chances are our Parents said the same to us.

What better example to set to the next generation than to go about doing what it is you really want to.

Some the things on your list will be easier to do than others. After all, you are busy, because busy is what we do.

You want to learn to surf?

Prior to your next visit to the beach, look up where the surfing lessons are and book in. Many popular beaches have locals running surf schools. Introduction lessons last about an hour. It is a start.

As for those foreign language lessons, you don’t need to sign up to expensive classes. I attended local community classes when seeking to get a basic grasp of French. This was 3 hours, one night a week for 10 weeks and cost me less than $100.00.

If you have a genuine desire to get properly physically fit, perhaps forgo that repeat of NCIS three nights a week and get up half an hour earlier and go for a walk. The hardest thing about achieving a fitness desire is starting, it is taking that first step. But be warned, exercise and the associated benefits can be addictive.

Naturally, there are “want to do’s” that will be in the future.

I know several people with a desire to walk a good part of the Comino Trail. The fact they have school aged children means this is something for quite some years in the future. However, they are using the intervening years to learn as much as they can about the Comino, accommodation and food options along the way and places of interest where they will spend more time.

A friend has had a long held desire to run a Marathon. In 2015 she decided she would run the New York Marathon. Coming from a zero running base, she has started taking the small steps towards her goal and has completed a 10 kilometre run and then a half marathon as part of a slow and sensible build up to her goal. Chances are she will enter New York in 2019 after her son has completed year 12.

Another friend has an obsession to attend the US Golf Masters, but is doing nothing about it other than talk

Weekends present an opportunity to separate ourselves from the pressures of the working week, even just for a moment. It is an opportunity to look inwardly and examine and test what it is we really want, and want to do.

And then to put in place the steps in order to do it.

May your weekend be precisely what you want it to be.