40 things to do, say, see, hear, taste, smell, and feel as soon as possible
Almost everyone loves to write, read, share, and tackle life goal lists. There are tons of books like “1,000 Places To See Before You Die,” sites for sharing lists like 43Things.com, and even a movie about two men chasing their final to-dos called, “The Bucket List.”
It’s fantastic that people want to do and see so much before they die. But I’ve realized after writing and publishing a few of these lists, is that they often imply a “years down the road” mentality, that we have a ton of time to finish every item on our lists. This makes us lose interest and leaves our lists to collect dust. None of us know how long we’re going to have. We may never live to an old age. So how about a new list with a more seize-the-day approach?
Here are 40 things to do, say, see, hear, taste, smell, and feel as soon as possible. Some things on this list are very small and simple, but can give profound results if you let it be so.
1. Enjoy a small victory after many major defeats.
2. Build something with your bare hands.
3. Hear whales communicating underwater.
4. Listen to the entire catalog of music from your favorite singer or band.
5. Let go of an inhibition.
6. Do something just for the hell of it. Not for money, fame, praise, or receiving an award.
7. Believe when all others have lost faith.
8. Taste fresh mountain spring water.
9. Hear genuine laughter.
10. Do something taboo.
11. Sit and listen to a waterfall.
12. Don’t say; “I’m having a bad day.”
13. Eat healthy.
14. Listen to a genre of music you’ve never liked.
15. Find beauty where others don’t.
16. Don’t think someone is strange just because they’re different.
17. Think those that are “normal” are strange.
18. Give a negative situation positivity.
19. Head to the woods.
20. Speak to someone much older than you. But listen more.
21. Ask questions that have no answers.
22. Give before someone asks.
23. Sincerely give a compliment to a stranger.
24. Give someone you don’t like a chance (or a second chance).
25. Reconcile with someone or a past event.
26. Get lost in a book, art work, or movie.
27. Dress to impress yourself.
28. Help an injured animal. (Seek trained professional if you could be in harm’s way.)
29. Take a break. Don’t worry about chasing a goal. Just enjoy the moment.
30. Go the extra step when you really don’t want to.
31. Be like John and “Imagine.”
32. Tell a love one; “I’m proud of you.”
33. Tell a love one after a failure or mistake; “I’m still proud of you.”
34. Enjoy a rainy day.
35. Don’t watch or read news for an entire day.
36. Lose a regret.
37. Dabble with your hidden talents.
38. Donate anonymously.
39. Find a new passion.
40. Finish an entire goal list.
Please feel free to add any other ideas from your own lists in the comment section below. We’d love to read about your near-future goals!
Photo by Nicholas_T
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The Dilemma of Helping Those on the Streets
If you’ve walked down the streets of New York City or any metropolitan area, you’ve seen the plight of the homeless, begging for change, sleeping on benches, and walking aimlessly.
When I see someone like this I feel the urge to throw them a couple of dollars. Yet, I’ll admit it; something inside me stops me from doing so. I debate whether it’s the right thing to do. I ask myself;
“Are they really going to use the money to buy food?”
“Is this just putting a band aid on a more severe and long term problem?”
“If this person is really desperate, why aren’t they trying to seek assistance at the numerous organizations set up to help them?”
“Will I be putting myself, those with me, or strangers walking by in harm’s way?”
So the dilemma certainly isn’t about money. I’m not greedy. I’m happy to donate money to a trusted organization that will feed and provide shelter to the homeless.
What do you think? I want to hear your opinions and stories. Is it good to help a beggar? Better to donate to a charity set up to provide more effective help? Please post in the comment section below.
Photo by Mitch2742
Sharing my story on Oprah Radio
Today, June 19th, I was given an amazing opportunity. I was allowed to share a little bit of my story and my family’s story on Oprah Radio’s The Derrick Ashong Experience during a discussion about fatherhood and fathers.
Derrick Ashong is a musician, artist, social entrepreneur, and radio host who’s taking talk radio to the next level. The Derrick Ashong Experience discusses issues in society, arts, business, politics, and about how each of us can make this world a little bit better. I highly recommend catching future airings of Derrick’s show. It airs Saturdays on Oprah Radio – XM Channel 156 and Sirius Channel 195, from 12 pm to 3 pm ET, 11 am to 2 pm CT. You can also watch it live online at Ustream.tv here: http://www.ustream.tv/derrickashongexperience . Or if you can’t tune in live, you can watch a repeat online of the show a few days after broadcast on Oprah.com here: http://www.oprah.com/oprahradio/About-Oprah-Radio-Host-Derrick-N-Ashong . Also be sure to follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ashong and join his Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/DerrickAshongExperience.
I shared how my father was abusive to my mother and how they broke up and how my father left for good when I was about 9 years old. When the video of the show is uploaded onto Oprah.com I will add it to the bottom of this post so those who are interested can check it out.
I’d like to thank Derrick, his producers, and the rest of the crew at Oprah Radio for giving me a chance to share my story. I really appreciate such an opportunity!
I’d also like to welcome the listeners of The Derrick Ashong Experience to Lyved. I hope you find this site enjoyable and valuable. I invite you to please check out our most popular article page as a great starting point: http://www.lyved.com/most-popular/ Also, I invite you to please join us at our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/lyved and follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/andrewgalasetti . Look forward to connecting!
Thanks everyone!
-Andrew
You can hear me share my family’s story after the 1 hour and 26 minutes mark, but I recommend checking Derrick’s full show out and his future shows.
Logo from The Derrick Ashong Experience facebook page.
The Mistakes of Making Mistakes
From the young to the old, we all make mistakes. From big ones to small ones, it’s part of being human.
Making mistakes is inevitable, but there are ways you can come out a better person by avoiding the additional mistakes we often make after realizing we did something wrong.
These are the mistakes of making mistakes.
Not forgiving yourself
When we make a mistake and realize it; to make things better we often seek forgiveness from others and from a higher power. But you may be missing the most important person; yourself.
It is extremely important to attempt to heal the pain you may have caused someone else, but you shouldn’t have to live in pain the rest of your life either. If others can find forgiveness and move forward, then you should too.
How do you forgive yourself?
- Look at where you were in life and in that moment when you made the mistake. Was that really how you act? Was it really you?
- Don’t look for excuses when looking at where you were, look for reasons that you’ll do better in the future and learn from your mistakes.
- Be patient – It’s going to take time and work to learn from mistakes and reach self-forgiveness.
Blowing things out of proportion
From time to time, we all get hung up on one mistake that we forget to look at the bigger picture. Look at your entire road in life and focus on the positives of yourself. You may find that your mistake was a small bump or pot hole in the road.
Feeling you’re alone
As I wrote earlier, we all make mistakes. There’s not one person alive today who can say they’ve never done something stupid or wrong. There are however, plenty of people who think they’re better than others and love to point out the flaws of others as if they’re perfect.
Considering giving up as a solution
Giving up can take the form of refusing to learn from your mistakes and believing the mistakes define you, to the extreme form of giving up; suicide.
Giving up should not be a solution for you because it doesn’t accomplish anything. If you want to “fix” the past, the best thing to do is have a better future.
Thinking that your flaws make you a bad person
It’s not necessarily the flaws that make a bad person, but the lack of realization, lack of remorse, and the refusal to learn from the mistake and avoid it in the future.
Considering all mistakes, “mistakes”
Sometimes they happen for a reason and many times you can give them reason.
These are just a few of the common mistakes we make after we’ve made a mistake. So what are some personal mistakes you’ve made after making a mistake? Or what are some you’ve seen others do? Please share in the comments below so we can all learn.
Photo by KevinLallier
Luck needs you
When thinking about your life, dreams, and success, it’s hard not to think about and question luck. “Does luck exist? Are there people that are luckier than me and there’s nothing I can do about it? Are my successes going to end up coming down to luck?”
Luck is a tricky thing to understand and may seem like an even trickier thing to obtain. Luck appears to be driven by chance, but really your luck needs you to exist.
For luck to happen to you, you have to meet it at least half way. It’s a mutual search; it’s looking for you and you’ve got to look for it.
For example, take the story of Peter Buffett. In a previous article and interview I did with Peter Buffett, I wrote about how he took a big gamble at 19 and left college to pursue a career in music. He moved to San Francisco where he lived frugally and worked odd jobs to keep his music dreams alive. Then one day he was outside his apartment building and struck up a conversation with another apartment tenant. The neighbor asked what he did and Peter mentioned how he was a struggling musician. This neighbor just so happened to know someone in the industry who was working in a little startup TV channel called MTV. He referred Peter and he got a job. This basically launched his career which led to Peter moving into films, TV, owning his own record labels, and living his dreams and passion.
Was this pure luck for Peter? Sure, it’s odd that Peter just happened to be outside and struck up a conversation with a neighbor and the talk led to Peter’s music career. But here’s the most important and compelling thing about this situation; if Peter had never taken that giant leap and moved to San Francisco, none of this luck would have happened. The luck needed Peter.
So if you feel you need luck, remember luck needs you.
Does luck exist?
Now that you know that luck needs you, does “luck” really exist? I feel that it’s just a simple word we use to describe something very complex.
What do you think? Does luck exist? And also, do you have a personal story where you met luck halfway and achieved a dream? Please share in the comment section below.
