You are who you decide to be.
Just before New Year’s Eve, 1993, I sat down to write a list of resolutions. Instead, I ended up writing a list of things that would be totally unlike me to do, things that other people do. Over the course of an hour or so, I listed something like fifty skills, hobbies, or accomplishments that were wholly out of character for me. Though I long ago misplaced the list, I recall that it included entries like “learn to fly,” “learn to juggle fire,” “take up rollerblading,” “volunteer for a candidate for office,” “become a good photographer,” “get a broadcasting license,” and “learn to ride a unicycle.”
The creation of this list coincided with my discovery of who they are. You know, as in “why haven’t they cure cancer?”, or “why do they have such lame people run for office?” Turns out they are the people who get off their butts and do what needs doing. There’s not a lot of people out there doing such things, which is why a lot of stuff isn’t done very well. I couldn’t come up with any good reason why I couldn’t be one of them, and maybe do a little better at it.
I set about working on my list. I joined the Civil Air Patrol. I bought some juggling clubs. I invested in a pair of skates. I volunteered for three candidates (all of whom were vying for the same seat, but didn’t seem to mind my triplicity). I borrowed my mother’s K1000. I spent some quality time falling down in the kitchen on my brother’s old unicycle. And so on. As I learned each skill well enough, I crossed it off the list. Though my goal was to do all of the things in a single year, I managed only to get through about half of them. It was a mild disappointment at the time, but I figured I’d keep going.
Ultimately, I’ll bet I accomplished 90% of what was on that list before I lost interest. It’s not that I lost interest in many of my new experiences or skills — on the contrary, many of them remain defining characteristics to this day. But I found that I didn’t need the list itself anymore. I’d simply changed the way that I viewed the world. No longer did I need to be defined by my circumstances — I could define my own circumstances, and create myself in the process.
It’s been a long time since I made that list. I think it’s about time that I made a new one. I already know that I’ll want to put “learn to play an instrument” on there (again), “knit a scarf,” “become competent at sewing,” and “take a watercolor class.” It’s 180° from eating fire and getting a motorcycle (also on the original list) but, then, that’s the idea — to expand who I am.
What will you put on your list?
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