10 x 10 = Dream List 100!

Taking the Powers of Ten idea to the next, exponential level!
At the request of my Monavie mentor, I was asked to re-write my list of 100 Dreams, my own "bucket list."

Well, I'm glad I revisited the list!  It came together over many months, and still hides, in a binder, amongst the piles of papers in this office.  Now, a copy also resides as an Excel document in my computer, and also on this blog.

Re-typing the list immediately got me in to a great, even excited mood.  LoA people would say my "vibration increased."  I felt it almost immediately as I REMEMBERED what it was I wanted to be doing with my time on this planet.

I was happy to note that 2 of the goal/dreams have already happened, almost without even trying: "Have a family (wife and 2 kids)" happened exactly like that (so far...?!) and I've been bungee jumping twice.

Some of the goals are still a bit nebulous: "accomplished guitarist" is at what point accomplished?
"Great Cook" is at what point great?

Others, I've kind of achieved, but not really.  "Raise great kids" is still a work in progress, and I don't know if a few mini tomatoes warrants checking off "Raise own Vegetables."

As I re-typed the Dreamlist, I noticed that some things could be grouped together.  Riding on animals.  Visiting places.

Nearing the end of the list, I noticed a pretty obvious progression from "Have" to "Do" to "Be" to "Feel." And I think that is the value of having 100 items on the list.  When we have all that we could possibly want, we start to think of what we want to experience.  Then who we want to be.  Finally, what we want to feel.

Open up an Excel sheet and see if you can get to 100.  You don't have to do it all in one sitting.  Keep it out prominently on your desktop or phonetop.  Open it often.  Remember what you are here to do. be. feel.

Here's the list:

1    Nobel Prize
2    Climb Everest
3     Have $1000000
4    swim with a whale
5    swim with a dolphin
6    write a movie and get it made
7    BE in a movie
8    Family (wife and two kids)
9    read Moby Dick
10    Go down the Amazon
11    Go on an aircraft carrier
12    Own a bar
13    Fly on a trapeeze
14    50-day hike
15    write my book
16    Ride a Harley down a mountain road
17    I CAN 100 kids
18    bungee jump
19    ride a killer whale
20    live in a log house on a river
21    see the Earth from space
22    drive and own a Jaguar
23    meet a president
24    visit the South Pole
25    Read all of Shakespeare
26    Be an accomplished photographer
27    Sail around the world
28    Raise horses
29    See the Mountain Gorillas
30    Grow my own vegetables
31    ski jump!
32    Learn about car care
33    see 5 Olympics
34    BE in the Olympics
35    go big game fishing
36    Visit Egypt
37    visit all 50 states
38    Go on an African Safari
39    run a full marathon
40    Go on Alaskan fishing trip/cruise
41    Learn to write Arabic and Korean
42    write a movie and get it made
43    become an accomplished guitarist
44    Get a masters degree
45    become a great cook
46    MEET AN ALIEN
47    TIME TRAVEL
48    Get a PhD
49    Build a house
50    ride the trans-siberian railroad
51    donate $1,000,000
52    be in a rodeo
53    to to India
54    make $100,000 on the internet
55    ride a submarine
56    own a café
57    eat all 31 flavors
58    experience a sensory depravation tank
59    raise great kids
60    go hunting
61    stay in an ice hotel
62    go jet skiing
63    go ballooning
64    experience weightlessness
65    pilot an airplane
66    have personal eyesight
67    have my own personal chef
68    develop psychic powers
69    walk across the USA
70    date a model
71    ride an elephant
72    have 100 people attend my 100th birthday
73    make bread from my own wheat
74    achieve higher states of consciousness
75    see my kids graduate from high school
76    go river rafting in the Grand Canyon
77    see the aurora boreal
78    become a vegetarian
79    make good beer
80    Las Vegas high roller weekend!
81    See More Bears in Nature!   
82    buy a diamond   
83    go hang gliding   
84    Cycle across Japan   
85    sell an invention   
86    visit Paris with Emiko   
87    ride in and control a steam shovel   
88    sell something on ebay
89    Visit Russia
90    have a pet iguana
91    see a ghost
92    be on late night TV
93    live in a traditional Japanese farmhouse
94    Ride a camel
95    Be 68 kilos and strong
96    feel healthy
97     feel respected by peers
98    feel loved by family
99    leave a legacy
100  feel healthy, wise, happy!

...voila!

April 22 2009 Best 10

Sometimes the best work in Powering up your Tens is had just by reviewing the best parts of your day. There are probably 10 reasons for doing so, but for me it helps me feel gratitude, it helps me reflect and review the day, and it is a nice closing bookend of one unit of living.

As I have written before, the real work comes towards the end, but the Power of Tens is in the work at the end. What little successes did I enjoy today? What little things were good? A lot of littles make a big big.

Today's List of Ten came easily:



(in chronological order)
1. Morning call from Kota’s mom. Could he start coming back to I CAN? Seems his grandmother is stressing him out again these days, and everyone agrees he needs to get out of the house! Great to have Kota back with us!
2. New Zealand buddy Simon stops by I CAN with his McLunch for a visit. He helps us set up our youtube inspired “Mentos in Pepsi” experiement. Result? not as impressive as online.
3. Playing “the Game of Life” (literally, you know, the board game) with these guys. Funny how the “winner” is decided by how much money you have at the end.
4. Neighborhood 5th graders stop by I CAN after school to play. This reminds me that I have a(n unimplemented) plan to open up for after school visitors! We played a charades-inspired guessing game using red, yellow, green and blue Play-doh.
5. After kids go home, I run to the cable TV station to try to borrow a projector for our homestay slideshow, and also try to get some local, cable news coverage. I got 2 yeses.
6. Then I got on the phone to try to confirm attendees for the homestay success party itself, and to round up more photos for the slide show I will try to put on DVD for them by Sunday. Still, the sixth (newly 7th) graders are not quite on the ball with deadlines.
7. As almost an afterthought I called our chairman and asked him to attend. He was delighted with stories of the trip and will attend.
8. I took the rest of the night off to attend what I thought would be a koto (Japanese harp) concert. In fact it was one of the strangest meetings I have ever attended. While I used to get myself into these situations a lot when I first arrived in Japan, it had been a while. I walked into the 300 year old restaurant, expecting a room full of classical music fans. Instead, 15 chairs around a table, mostly filled with company presidents, cultural leaders, and other town “elites.” Each place was set with a meeting agenda, other official looking documents.
Turns out that the meeting I was asked by a Rotary acquaintance to attend was in order to commission a “support group” (fan club?) for a local, distinguished koto artist. Unfortunately, the man who invited me hadn’t done his homework. There was a near revolt when it became known that the woman for whom the group was being commisioned hadn’t asked for support, and that furthermore, she was not in attendance, though she said she might stop by later that night.
I received a lesson in Japanese politics, as each member politely declined being an officer, and then had their name written in anyway when the room’s ranking leader cajoled them into (forced) volunteer service. I resigned myself to eating and drinking as much as my $80 addendance fee would allow.
Strange.
9. Best part of the surreal meeting was introducing myself to a doctor Kawamuro, a woman director of two hospitals which specialize in mental health. We talked a bit about school -outs and society -outs, and she and I seemed to be on the same page regarding how best to support such members/patients/citizens. Will drop her a thank you tomorrow.
10. Got back home in time for reading in bed with Emiko, Yuto and Eli. Did my son just say “I love you, Dad.” before nodding off?

The First Ten

What follows will be 10 lists of 10, for you to work on, post here if you like, or keep in a journal. I will be posting my personal “Lists of 10” for each of these categories, in coming days. It’s like President Obama’s first 100 days. (10 x 10 days).

Let’s see how much we can get done in the next 3 1/3 months.

So here’s your homework, to be taken on one list a day. DO THIS, and you will be surprised at the new you whom you meet next summer!Let’s get started:

List 10 things you are grateful for.

List 10 people you remember from high school. Can you reach them? Will you try?

List your 10 favorite songs. Burn them onto a disc.

List your 10 favorite colors. Find them right now and smile.

List your 10 favorite books. Will you read them this year?

List 10 things you wish your friend would say to you. Ask them to say them!

List 10 memories from high school.

List your 10 favorite animals. Go see them at the zoo, or get a DVD and watch them!

List 10 difficult things to do. Break them down into 10 steps each. Take one first step.

List the 10 Best Things of today.