Sometimes we slip into bad habits. One moderate peanut butter m&m becomes one giant bag…a day. It is easier to slide down a hill than to hike up to the top. Gravity and atrophy work on us in equal measure. We must push back against the slide, brush off the gungus of resignation, and start again toward the life we endeavor.
Diets, financial freedom, friendships, and the act of living all call upon our derring do, our bravery. We attempt these climbs into fitness, debt-free-ness, pals, love, and life better in good company. We are social animals and it is easier to be brave in good company.
With this in mind – and because I mentioned needing to write my list of Top 100 Things to Do (rather than scroll through Amazon or social media) – here is my list of Top 100 Things I like to do. I will consult this list as needed. Maybe you’ll want to add to it in the comments. Anyhoo, it will help to have a living document to consult when imagination is low and weariness is high. Let’s have some fun.
Allie’s Top 100+ Things to Do (or enjoy) in No Particular Order
- Good company (this is always first up!)
- kayaking
- running
- swimming
- yoga
- walking/hiking
- museums
- coffee/wine/beer around a table with one or more people
- listening (especially as other people tell their stories)
- holding hands
- flying kites
bubble-making- reading
- writing
- exploring
- photos
- learning
- origami
- reading to kids, Kids’ books are the best!
- smack-talking over K-Stateopoly, Uno, or Scrabble with my loves
- SNOW, making tracks, snowballs, snow forts, running in snow, sledding, walking to work in snow, the quiet of a very snowy morning
- SKIING
- Climbing mountains
- cheering people on
- getting things done
- meeting new friends
- writing letters and cards to send via snail mail
watching people create- and having the chance to help
- plays/shows
- good music (looking at you Avett Brothers, Iz Kamakawiwoʻole, & Itzhak Perlman)
- kids & babies when they kick their feet and laugh
- trying not to laugh in church then losing it in fits of giggles with the slacker aisle
- learning languages, hearing new languages
- space, space flight, NASA, space camp, head space
- meditation (okay…so I want to like this)
- cute shoes and dressing up for a good reason
- favorite uniform: messy ponytail, chucks, jeans, t-shirt, black jacket, quirky jewelry
- adventuring with Magpie, Zach, Kenan, Katie, M3, Kitra, and folkses
- Dinner with Gil & Trish; dinner with the Queens, Dr. SpecialK and Kendall
- Where I work and with whom I work
- People (I love the people!)
- Chipotle’s guacamole & chips
- Happy Camper Merlot (cha-ching…inside jokes!)
- People who are no longer strangers
- Photography and Instagram
- Travel and then coming home
Gentle wind through fields which look like oceans of wheat- snail mail
- serendipity
- forgiveness
- honesty, integrity (especially when sticking with the truth is uncomfortable and hard)
- chutzpah
- intelligent discussions, not agreeing, but still being civil and kind
- clementines, Fage Greek yogurt, raspberries
- good stories and storytelling
- the sun through my front windows
- party lights, glow-in-the-dark
- when people do hard things and realize their super powers!
- mountains. mountains. mountains.
- stationary goods
- fountain pens
- Favorite Magazines (guilty pleasures): Fast Company, Outside, Real Simple
- Finishing a book
- Audio books
- Actually hauling my recycling and not waiting for it
- Kenan’s laugh, compassion, and ever-growing wisdom
- Madi’s mad ceramic skills, perfect comic timing, and derring do
- the people in our lives (including Izzy who is almost “people”)
the best friends a girl could ask for- have you met my neighbors?
- plants, gardens, and Zen gardens
- authenticity
- seeing old friends again and feeling like it has only been moments since our last embrace
- creative driving
- Christmas cookie baking days with Sliz and Karen
- making homemade cinnamon rolls for the kids as they come home
- surprises of people showing up
- shiny things
- Legos
- journals waiting words and doodles
- green spaces and dining al fresco
- KONZA prairie
- Old VW bugs with luggage racks
- romance
- art
- people – including me – trying their best
- tenacity
- compassion
- goofiness
Walter Mitty, Waking Ned Divine, Spitfire Grill- Tony’s Kickin Glass art and his awesome family
- Most of the kids’ and my teachers.
- LIBRARIES
- black clothes with pops of pink otherwise blue, yellow, and green
- Whompusses: fuzzy pups and cats
- Language
- Quiet
- Lou’s backyard
- Dave Mayes’ crazy good better-than-chocolate salad & Katie Mayes’ cooking and baking (in and all of it)
- knocking out my list
Your turn. Add what you can or want.
This is my reminder to pursue what I like rather than waste time, heart, and resources on what will not or is unable to satisfy those longings we – I – have as part of being human.
Much love.
Alpal
