Living Life

I have done some really amazing things in my life. This is not a brag session, but more of an attempt to collect some of the most fun and meaningful things I have ever done for my own inventory.  Also it's a bit of a self-check to see how I'm doing on my bucket list.

I am 35 years old and here are some notable things I have done so far in my life:

-Won (several) chess tournaments.
-Completed two triathlons.
-Forged my own knife from scratch.
-Solved a Rubik's cube.
-Watched the sunset on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
-Paddled over 300 miles in a canoe.
-Rode in a helicopter.
-Been interviewed on TV.
-Self-taught harmonica player.
-Performed a magic show for a paying audience.
-Donated over 30 pints of blood.
-Met two Heisman Trophy winners.
-Hiked several mountains.
-Forded an icy river in the dead of winter, with no shoes on. Or pants, actually.
-Designed numerous corporate logos.
-Have come face-to-face with wild horses while hiking.
-Been cave diving.
-Taken a (voluntary) bite from a police dog.
-Jumped off of a 3 story cliff into water.
-Wrote and illustrated a web comic.
-Played chess against 10 people at the same time, prisoners. In a prison.
-Spent the night on an uninhabited island in the middle of a lake.
-Built massive sand sculptures at the beach.
-Hosted a foreign exchange student.
-I have eaten raw, octopus tentacle.
-I have swam a mile.
-I have performed in a stage play.
-I have shot a sniper rifle, with a SWAT team.
-Built my own workbench from scratch.
-Built my own computer from scratch.
-Constructed a paracord belt.
-Been awakened while sleeping in the wild by a nearby pack of coyotes making a kill.
-Hiked 21 miles in a single day.
-Hiked 14 miles through a swamp in the dead of summer.
-Operated a bomb demolition robot.
-Taken an airboat ride through the everglades.
-Been to NASA.
-Heard blues performed by a street band on legendary Beale Street in Memphis.
-Won a No Limit Texas Hold 'Em Poker tournament.
-At one time owned 5 rental houses.
-Written a short story.
-Been in the largest home in the United States.
-Ridden the fastest roller coaster in the world (at the time).


Of all the things mentioned several of these things have been really hard. I mean really hard. But I'm reminded that there's nothing in life worth doing that's easy. If it were easy everyone would do it. My life experience has been rewarding.

All of the things mentioned have been great, but nothing compares to the joy of fathering two, wonderful children and having a wife who, after 11 years, I still adore and actively try to find new ways to fall in love with her every day.  Doing exciting stuff is all well and good, but having people you love in your life is what makes life worth the living.