Getting outside to hike – like on this recent trip to Glacier National Park – keeps life playful, but it’s important to keep bigger goals in mind too.

Last week, in my Inside Out class, I was tasked with something fairly difficult: making a list of 25 things I’ve always wanted to do, try or learn, but never have.

The good news is, I’ve been fortunate to seek out and accomplish a lot of cool things in my day: backpack Australia, bungee jump in New Zealand, zip line in Costa Rica, climb the Eiffel Tower, ramble through castles in Ireland, honeymoon in Jamaica, scuba dive in Baja, cruise around Mexico with my BFF, drink wine in Napa, hike 14,000 foot mountains, mountain bike the White Rim Trail, give birth naturally and well, you get the idea. I’m an adventurer at heart.

So at first thought, I didn’t believe I’d come up with 25 things. But the truth is that as adults especially, we tend to stop doing some of the cool things that we used to. In short, we stop playing.

And that my friends, is bad.

Let me be the first to say I’m as guilty as anyone and I blame it squarely on K-bear. Don’t get me wrong; you can’t take the adventurer out of me completely! We still get out and play regularly and travel some. But somewhere in the past few years, I’ve stopped extending and challenging myself.

In reality, I’m sure it’s because having kids is an adventure all of its own. I mean seriously, if we’re going to be honest here, it took me two years to adapt to having a kid. They are extremely high maintenance and tend to overextend us as is. But now, as my Inside Out instructor Shannon explains, it’s time for me.

Who can argue with that?

So being a good sport and dedicated to this class, I started on my list. Lists are nice by they way; they help you accomplish things. In that regard, this exercise is elementary, and yet so powerful!

I’ve gotten way to complacent in the past few years as evidenced by my slow start. But as I wrote, the ideas kept coming.  There are so many things I want to accomplish. Some I haven’t thought of in years, and some I’ve only come to add in the past few years. Some I’ve had in the back of my mind but have been too afraid to face for fear of failure.

Some are easier to accomplish: souffle anyone? Not sure where that one came from, but pretty sure I can tackle it one Sunday soon. Run a resort, preferably with hot springs? That’s more of close-to-retirement goal. But buy a house on the beach; camp in Mesa Verde; bike across Europe; Those I think know will come sometime in-between!

Here, in no particular order – other than the way they came out of my head – are the 25 things I have yet to do, but will some day. I’ve identified five with an asterisk as priorities.

1. Be published in a national magazine*
2. Visit Greece/Italy/Turkey
3. Take an African safari
4. Go on a multi-day yoga/spa retreat
5. Scuba dive in Belize
6. Make a souffle*
7. Take a road trip up the coast of California
8. Visit New Mexico
9. Bike across Europe
10. Buy a house on the beach
11. Start an animal sanctuary
12. Do a mountain bike race*
13. Do a multi-day road bike race
14. Do a sprint triathlon
15. Go vegan for 30 days (or more!)*
16. Meet Oprah
17. Raft or hike the Grand Canyon
18. Run a healthy cafe
19. Own and operate a hot springs resort
20. Take ballroom dance classes with Ed
21. Study holistic medicine
22. Take a past-life regression journey*
23. See a concert at The Gorge Amphitheater
24. Join a food activist organization
25. Camp in Mesa Verde National Park

Wow – that’s baring my soul! But to write it is to acknowledge it, and to acknowledge it is to make it happen, right?

Today, I’m supposed to pick one that I will take steps to accomplish in the next week. Yikes!

Which one do you think it should be?

What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do, but haven’t yet?

I shared this on  Hearth and Soul, The Gathering Spot, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Health 2day and Frugal Days Sustainable Ways.