Where I’ve been

I’ve found this map on the internet that enables you to mark down all the countries you’ve been to and lived in… it’s pretty cool but it just shows how little of the world I’ve seen… and what I’ve yet to explore!

Key:

Blue – Places I’ve been                Red – Places I’ve Lived                 Green – Places I want to go

Bucketlist

<NOTE: I do ramble on a little in this one, so if you don’t have much time/don’t want to read my realisations and ramblings then scroll down until you get to the picture of the bucket and read from there! And for the rest of you, I hope you’re sitting comfortably…>

Being as I have been absent from this blog a little while, (it’s nice to see you as well, and yes… it is new) I thought I might begin on a little summary on what I have been doing with myself recently.

Unfortunately my professional poker career hasn’t yet taken off, neither have I received a call from Hollywood inviting me to star in a film of my life. However I have yet to turn to mugging old ladies and taking drugs, so all in all I am feeling positive.

I have however had a little bit more time to myself than I am usually used to. And so have begun learning to play a new instrument, am planning on learning a new language, and have been reading a lot more, and feeling all the better for it. My literature of choice happens to be that of a psychological persuasion (if you know me then this will not at all come as a shock to you. If you don’t know me then allow me to let you know that the study of psychology fascinates me… and that I’m also ridiculously good-looking). Much of the psychology books that are not academic textbooks seem to have a commonality in them, in that they usually explore a topic related directly to everyday life, and that more often than not, they contain a ‘self-help’ section or chapter.

Putting aside my personal opinions on the bandwagonning culture of mainstream ‘self-help’ media, and their lack of basis and research in many of the claims they make and techniques they use, reading some of the better researched books in this area has actually got me thinking about life. I know… deep right? Well, don’t be put off quite yet, as you may also find it as fascinating as I do.

The question that really stuck with me is: “what do you want to be remembered for?”. Now this seems a very plain question, I’ve been asked it many times and have usually answered something upon the lines of “being happy” or “having fun”, but look at the question again, and really think about it for a moment. If you were able to look over your own funeral, what would you want people to say about you in your eulogy? That, for me was an “Aha!” moment, and seeing as I was on a train back from Brighton at the time, and my iPod had just ran out of battery I actually began to write down part of what I would like people to remember me for. Or, if you like, part of my own eulogy. I have read it back since, and after sifting through all the cock jokes (because I’m hilarious), it has actually changed the way I perceive my life. It may work for you, if you realise how you want to be remembered and then… do it.

I have also written my own ‘bucket-list’ (as in the Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman film) of the things I would like to experience before I “kick the bucket” as they put it. I’m going to share it with you, in the hope that it might give you some ideas for your own maybe, and because my Mum says it’s nice to share. This is by no means a definitive list, and I would definitely like some more to put on, so if you have any more suggestions then please comment!

• Go skydiving
• Scuba dive on the great barrier reef
• Experience an African safari
• Walk along the great wall of China
• See the pyramids
• See the Northern lights
• Go on a cruise
• Go paragliding
• Learn to ski/snowboard
• Bungee jump
• Hot air balloon ride
• Be an extra in a film

That’s what I’ve got so far… a work in progress… suggestions welcome.

(Also if you’re a producer for a T.V. company and would like to make a programme involving me doing all the things that people think they should do before I die, then I’m sure I can fit you in to my busy schedule, and we could talk things through, perhaps over tea and biscuits… I like tea.)

Until next time,

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