Tristan Needs Adventure
Dear Constant Readers,
First off I want to say that things are going a hell of a lot better than they were for me the last time I wrote. Much much much better, and I owe a lot of that to people who would listen some friends who I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I still have things to...how to say it?....let heal while I contemplate life, but I'm not trying to contemplate too much, or rather, I'm trying to change the diet of the mind in what I contemplate. It's kind of like working out. It's hard when you get started, and you need a lot of encouragement from time to time, but in time, things start to take care of themselves.
Thank you, all of you who have either spoken with me, or prayed for me, or listened to me. You really are the best things in my life.
Now, while I munch this dark chocolate Snickers Mini, I wanted to say a couple of other things, in a lighter fashion.
I like making lists. I have lists for all sorts of stuff. I have lists for books I want to read, movies I want to see, an at-one-time-comprehensive list of what movies I owned including summary, awards and nominations, if I had it on DVD or VHS and so forth, and of course languages I want to learn, and in what particular order (I've re-written that one several times).
While I was out jogging yesterday, I was thinking about some of the goals I'd like to reach in life, and thought I'd write them here. I read somewhere that when you make a goal, tell everyone you can about it, because somehow that motivates you, so here goes.
Someday I'd like to run the original marathon course in Greece. This is more of a lukewarm goal at the moment, but it has stuck with me over the years since I first got the idea, so maybe there is something to it. As of now, the farthest I have ever run (that I'm aware of) in one go is 10 miles (16.1 Km.), and that was yesterday, although I've done it before. My next goal is to gradually increase that to 20 (32.2) miles, and see what happens from there. However, I'm not officially training for anything, I'm just running for fun.
Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. That's a volcano in Africa. I know nothing about climbing, and I've read that this one is fairly easy for amateurs like myself. I think it would be a fun adventure, and it would give me an excuse to learn Swahili (as if I'd need an excuse to learn it). Still, I'd like to take some climbing lessons someday, because I'd think it would be fun, and perhaps even
Climb Mt. Everest. Fat chance, I don't really like the cold. But I hopefully have a lot of years of life left in me, and I'm open to the (eventual) possibility, however remote, of being enticed by this adventure. At the very least I'd like to visit Nepal.
Sky Dive. Definitely do this one. I don't like heights, but not to the point where it's a real phobia. Still, I'm curious about this one, and will probably jump out of an airplane. Base jumping? Maybe later, I'm not too concerned about that.
Become qualified to Night Dive, and Deep Sea Dive. I actually am already a qualified scuba diver, which is a bit ironic because I freeze my ass off in anything that's colder than bathwater, and also because I'm not a fan of being wet at all. But my sense of adventure overruled all that, and besides, I want to learn dry suit diving so I can stay warm on deeper dives.
Participate in the Iditarod. Of all of my goals, this is really perhaps the least likely, because A) I don't like the cold that much (although in fairness, I appreciate it a lot lot more than I used to, and I can see myself liking it even more. I already love the outdoors much more than I used to), and B) I'm not much of a dog person. That's probably what would get me there. But why rule it out yet? If I were offered the chance to tag along, I might take it.
Drive to Alaska. Just because.
Drive the Pan-American Highway. This road goes from the Arctic Circle of Alaska all the way to the tip of Argentina, rolling in at nearly 48,000 kilometres (29,800 miles), including the unofficial routes through Canada and the US. I've heard it takes about two years to drive, I'm not sure about that. However, apparently one fellow set a record in doing it in 24 days. I'd rather take things slower. If I can find the time to do this, and I don't see why I shouldn't, this will be a big definite.
Learn Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Polish. The languages of my ancestry.
Learn the piano. I'm working on it, actually.
Publish a novel. I'm not too worried about this one. I love to write, but similar to running and language-learning, I don't have any professional angle in mind, so there's no real pressure.
See the Great Wall of China. Because with a list like this, you have to.
A guy I know just rode his bike from Nebraska to San Fransisco. Maybe I'd like to do that, too, but we'll see. Chalk that up to "maybe."
I could list off the languages I want to learn, but that would be silly, and kinda against my principles. I do in fact have a set number in mind, but I don't plan on stopping at that number, it's just a goal to shoot for for the time being. When I learn as many languages as I hope to, I actually don't want anyone to know about it. What I mean is, I'm not doing it for attention. Today a classmate of mine was impressed when a girl in our class said she learned Spanish from her mom and had taken a semester of German and a semester of French, in addition to her English. To that classmate, that was surely impressive, and that's fine. I didn't see it as prudent to open my mouth and say what I could have said. It would have cheapened all of my hard work and passion, plus what the girl said wasn't wrong at all. She's already accomplished more than what many people will.
Retrace Lewis and Clarke's trail. I've heard of people doing that. I'd also like to retrace the Oregon Trail. Those are things I'd like to do, but aren't really goals yet.
Retrace Marco Polo's trail. Is this possible? I don't know. Perhaps not. But if it were, it could be fun.
Become more of an outdoors man. That means, learn about outdoor survival, and take in more scenery. Maybe this fits me since one thing I'd like to do is visit Canada and Alaska.
Well, anyway, these are some of the things I'd like to do. Not all of them are official goals yet, but more like dreams. Some of them have higher priority than others. I have a few ideas about the kind of life I want to live, and I don't want it to be clean, wear a suit, 9:00-5:00. I recognize the importance of work, of course, but I don't see why it has to be something everyone else is doing. I don't know what I want, maybe I want to be an archaeologist, though. Perhaps I could get some of these goals in there with that profession. When I think about how I'm shaping my life, one thing to me is apparent. I really need adventure, at least for the time being. I need to get out of here. Out of Nebraska, and out into the paths less traveled. I really have to do that.
Hope all is well.
Tristan
First off I want to say that things are going a hell of a lot better than they were for me the last time I wrote. Much much much better, and I owe a lot of that to people who would listen some friends who I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I still have things to...how to say it?....let heal while I contemplate life, but I'm not trying to contemplate too much, or rather, I'm trying to change the diet of the mind in what I contemplate. It's kind of like working out. It's hard when you get started, and you need a lot of encouragement from time to time, but in time, things start to take care of themselves.
Thank you, all of you who have either spoken with me, or prayed for me, or listened to me. You really are the best things in my life.
Now, while I munch this dark chocolate Snickers Mini, I wanted to say a couple of other things, in a lighter fashion.
I like making lists. I have lists for all sorts of stuff. I have lists for books I want to read, movies I want to see, an at-one-time-comprehensive list of what movies I owned including summary, awards and nominations, if I had it on DVD or VHS and so forth, and of course languages I want to learn, and in what particular order (I've re-written that one several times).
While I was out jogging yesterday, I was thinking about some of the goals I'd like to reach in life, and thought I'd write them here. I read somewhere that when you make a goal, tell everyone you can about it, because somehow that motivates you, so here goes.
Someday I'd like to run the original marathon course in Greece. This is more of a lukewarm goal at the moment, but it has stuck with me over the years since I first got the idea, so maybe there is something to it. As of now, the farthest I have ever run (that I'm aware of) in one go is 10 miles (16.1 Km.), and that was yesterday, although I've done it before. My next goal is to gradually increase that to 20 (32.2) miles, and see what happens from there. However, I'm not officially training for anything, I'm just running for fun.
Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. That's a volcano in Africa. I know nothing about climbing, and I've read that this one is fairly easy for amateurs like myself. I think it would be a fun adventure, and it would give me an excuse to learn Swahili (as if I'd need an excuse to learn it). Still, I'd like to take some climbing lessons someday, because I'd think it would be fun, and perhaps even
Climb Mt. Everest. Fat chance, I don't really like the cold. But I hopefully have a lot of years of life left in me, and I'm open to the (eventual) possibility, however remote, of being enticed by this adventure. At the very least I'd like to visit Nepal.
Sky Dive. Definitely do this one. I don't like heights, but not to the point where it's a real phobia. Still, I'm curious about this one, and will probably jump out of an airplane. Base jumping? Maybe later, I'm not too concerned about that.
Become qualified to Night Dive, and Deep Sea Dive. I actually am already a qualified scuba diver, which is a bit ironic because I freeze my ass off in anything that's colder than bathwater, and also because I'm not a fan of being wet at all. But my sense of adventure overruled all that, and besides, I want to learn dry suit diving so I can stay warm on deeper dives.
Participate in the Iditarod. Of all of my goals, this is really perhaps the least likely, because A) I don't like the cold that much (although in fairness, I appreciate it a lot lot more than I used to, and I can see myself liking it even more. I already love the outdoors much more than I used to), and B) I'm not much of a dog person. That's probably what would get me there. But why rule it out yet? If I were offered the chance to tag along, I might take it.
Drive to Alaska. Just because.
Drive the Pan-American Highway. This road goes from the Arctic Circle of Alaska all the way to the tip of Argentina, rolling in at nearly 48,000 kilometres (29,800 miles), including the unofficial routes through Canada and the US. I've heard it takes about two years to drive, I'm not sure about that. However, apparently one fellow set a record in doing it in 24 days. I'd rather take things slower. If I can find the time to do this, and I don't see why I shouldn't, this will be a big definite.
Learn Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Polish. The languages of my ancestry.
Learn the piano. I'm working on it, actually.
Publish a novel. I'm not too worried about this one. I love to write, but similar to running and language-learning, I don't have any professional angle in mind, so there's no real pressure.
See the Great Wall of China. Because with a list like this, you have to.
A guy I know just rode his bike from Nebraska to San Fransisco. Maybe I'd like to do that, too, but we'll see. Chalk that up to "maybe."
I could list off the languages I want to learn, but that would be silly, and kinda against my principles. I do in fact have a set number in mind, but I don't plan on stopping at that number, it's just a goal to shoot for for the time being. When I learn as many languages as I hope to, I actually don't want anyone to know about it. What I mean is, I'm not doing it for attention. Today a classmate of mine was impressed when a girl in our class said she learned Spanish from her mom and had taken a semester of German and a semester of French, in addition to her English. To that classmate, that was surely impressive, and that's fine. I didn't see it as prudent to open my mouth and say what I could have said. It would have cheapened all of my hard work and passion, plus what the girl said wasn't wrong at all. She's already accomplished more than what many people will.
Retrace Lewis and Clarke's trail. I've heard of people doing that. I'd also like to retrace the Oregon Trail. Those are things I'd like to do, but aren't really goals yet.
Retrace Marco Polo's trail. Is this possible? I don't know. Perhaps not. But if it were, it could be fun.
Become more of an outdoors man. That means, learn about outdoor survival, and take in more scenery. Maybe this fits me since one thing I'd like to do is visit Canada and Alaska.
Well, anyway, these are some of the things I'd like to do. Not all of them are official goals yet, but more like dreams. Some of them have higher priority than others. I have a few ideas about the kind of life I want to live, and I don't want it to be clean, wear a suit, 9:00-5:00. I recognize the importance of work, of course, but I don't see why it has to be something everyone else is doing. I don't know what I want, maybe I want to be an archaeologist, though. Perhaps I could get some of these goals in there with that profession. When I think about how I'm shaping my life, one thing to me is apparent. I really need adventure, at least for the time being. I need to get out of here. Out of Nebraska, and out into the paths less traveled. I really have to do that.
Hope all is well.
Tristan
posted by Tristan | 9:36 PM
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