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My Life Awry

A·wry     [uh-rahy]

-adverb, adjective

1. Away from the expected or proper direction; amiss; wrong: Our plans went awry.

*    *    *

I consider time as the most valuable asset we have.  And I honestly believe that most people are wasting their time.  Comfort leads to mediocrity and I believe this is one of the worst diseases on the planet.

We may be breathing, but that does not mean we are actually living.

“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with their song still in them.”  - Henry David Thoreau

I do not have all the answers… not even close.  But what I do know is that to live a remarkable life, I need to hold my personal freedom as my highest value, and construct a life around that mentality.

The status quo is fundamentally unremarkable, therefore, I need to live awry.  In other words, I need to live an unconventional life or “impossible” life (for how I do this, check out ‘The How’).

My life’s mission is very simple, and 2 parts:

  1. Live the craziest, most exciting life I can possible drum-up in my mind (and I have quite the imagination).
  2. Change the world for the better.

Part 1 is not complete without part 2.  It will have been quite the ride, but without a deeper meaning to my short existence it will all have been pointless.

To write your own list, here’s a good guide.

So here’s my ambitious life list… as big (or sometimes small), exciting and world changing as I can think of…

My Life Awry:

Travel:

1. Visit Every Country in the World. 27/192.

  • Canada
  • U.S.A.
  • Mexico
  • Nicaragua
  • Costa Rica
  • Jamaica
  • Barbados
  • Bahamas
  • St. Lucia
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Algeria
  • Morocco
  • France
  • Luxembourg
  • England
  • Belgium
  • Liechtenstein
  • Netherlands
  • Germany
  • Switzerland
  • Austria
  • Slovakia
  • Italy
  • Greece
  • China
  • Australia
  • Peru

2. Travel for 1 Year Straight.

3. Bike Through India for 4 Months.

Aventure/Experience:

4. Ride a Bull.

5. Wrangle a Bull to the Ground.  - Got my ass kicked.  Round 2 is mine.

6. Run With the Bulls.

7. Attend a Nascar Event.

8. Spend the Night in a Drunk-Tank.

9. See Jerry Seinfeld Stand-Up Live.

10. Attend an F1 Event.

11. Ice Swim in Finland.

12. Bet $1,000 at the Kentucky Derby.

13. Go Zip-Lining. - Done!

14. Go on a Cruise.

15. Go Noodling in Texas.

16. Turkish Bath… in Turkey.

17. Slam Dunk NBA Regulation Size Rim.

18. Safari in Kenya.

19. Sail the Egyptian Nile.

20. Shark Cage Session.

21. Dive for Abalone. - Done!

22. Stay in the Ice Hotel.

23. Go to the FIFA World Cup.

24. Surf a Barrel.

25. Party at Carnival in Rio.

26. Go Hang Gliding.

27. Snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef.  - Done!

28. Fly a Plane.  - Done!

29. Meet Hugh Hefner at the Mansion.

30. Spend 1 Month on a Fishing Boat.

31. Swim in Every Ocean.

  • Pacific
  • Atlantic
  • Indian
  • Southern
  • Arctic

32. Go White Water Rafting. - Done!

33. Get Messy at Tomatina.

34. Party at Mardi Gras.

35. Bungee Jump.

36. Life pose.

37. Get Motorcycle License.

38. Break a Pane of Glass With a Shot at Hockey.

39. The Hot Springs in Iceland.

40. See the Lakers Play in the Staples Center. - Done!

41. See the Bulls Play in the United Center.

42. Enter a Dog-Sled Race.

43. Fly in a Fighter Jet.

44. Fly in a Blimp.

45. Fly in a Hot Air Balloon.

46. Tandem Skydive. - Done!

47. Solo Skydive.

48. Demolition Derby in the Southern States.

49. Sit Ringside at a Title Bout.

50. Go Scuba Diving.  - Done!

51. Scuba Dive for Treasure.

52. Get a Hole in One.

53. Attend the Cowal Games.

54. Swing a Game Under-Par.

55. Get an Eagle in Golf.

56. Win a Texas Scramble Golf Tournament With Friends.

57. 8 Ball off the Break.  - Done!

58. Run the Table (Pool).

59. Excavate a Dinosaur Bone.

60. Canyoning Interlaken, Switzerland.

61. Swim With Wild Dolphins.  - Done!

62. Race an Ostrich in Oudtshoorn, South Africa.

63. Do Yabusame in Japan.

64. Do Stand-Up Comedy at a Club.

65. Become a Yogi.

140. Go See an NFL Game.

141. Go See a College Football Game.

139. Go on a Wild Boar Hunt. - Done!

Health/Fitness:

66. Run a Marathon.

67. Complete a Triathlon.

68. 100 Push Ups in 1 Minute.

69. Get Laser Eye Surgery.

70. Cut Down to Single-Digit Body Fat %.

71. Go 2 Weeks on 2 Hours of Sleep Per Day.

72. Hike Machu Picchu. - Done!

73. Hike the Kokoda Track.

74. Climb Everest One-Up From Base-camp.

75. Climb Kilimanjaro.

Learn:

76. Learn How to Tango.

77. Learn to Play the Harmonica.

78. Learn to Play the Guitar.

79. Learn Basic Sign Language.

80. Become Conversationally Fluent in Mandarin.

81. Become Conversationally Fluent in Spanish.

Do Good:

82. Fund a Kiva Loan.

83. Start an Initiative That Will Raise $10 Million For Charity.

Own:

84. Own a Private Island.

85. Own a Horse.

86. Own a Race Horse.

87. Own a Racing Greyhound.

88. Own a Mercedes G-Wagon.

89. Own a ’68 Camero.  Black.

90. Own a Rolls Royce.

91. Own a Condo in Vegas.

92. Own a Condo in Beijing.

93. Own a Ramp Room (Warehouse With Mini-Ramp, Billiards, etc).

94. Own a House in Playa Hermosa, Nicaragua.

95. Own an NHL Team (Hopefully the Jets).

Random:

96. Grow a Japanese Maple Bonsai.

97. Study my Family Tree.

98. Be an Extra in a Movie.  - Done!

99. Marry the Most Amazing Woman Ever.

100. Have a Couple Kids.

101. Get a Pic in a Skate Mag.

102. Receive the Key to Winnipeg.

103. Set a Guinness Record.

104. Win a WSOP Bracelet.

105. Win an Oscar.

106. Host Saturday Night Live.

107. Win an Emmy.

108. Write a Comedy Screenplay.

109. Write a Drama Screenplay.

110. Write a Western Screenplay.

Visit:

111. Pyramids at Sunset.

112. Petra.

113. Christ The Redeemer.

114. Chichen Itza.

115. Hagia Sophia.

116. Stonehenge.

117. Colosseum.  - Done!

118. Taj Mahal.

119. North and South Poles.

120. Great Wall of China.  - Done!

121. Terracotta Army.

122. The Galapagos Islands.

123. Vatican City.  - Done!

124. Eiffel Tower.  - Done!

125. Leaning Tower of Pisa. - Done!

Work:

126. Work From my Computer Anywhere in the World.  - Done!

127. Become a New York Times Best Selling Author.

128. Patent an Invention.

129. Skateboard for a Living.  - Done!  Not a “professional” with my own pro-model, but getting paid to skateboard for 2 summers in a row was a dream come true.

130. Create my Own Whisky Brand.

131. Create my Own Beer Brand.

132. Own a Dive Bar.

133. Open a Boutique Hotel in Winnipeg.

134. Have a Personal Assistant.

135. Have a Virtual Assistant. -  Done!

Eat/Drink:

136. Drink Snake Wine.

137. Eat Prairie Oysters (Bulls Balls).  - Done!

138. Eat a Fried Scorpion.