Forever Young

"You cannot always wait for the perfect time. Sometimes you must dare to jump. Life is all about risks and it requires you to jump. Don't be a person who has to look back and wonder what they would have, or could have had."

A while back, I started thinking about how much life has to offer. There is so much beauty in this world, and people tend to take advantage of little things that are right in front of our faces. Especially time - which I've recently begun to realize as my high school career is coming to an end in just a few short weeks. Looking back, what we choose to do with our free time is what will define our lives. You need to stop taking excuses and just take risks. It might not sound worth it, but in reality what have you got to lose? Nine times out of ten - people, especially young people - believe that nothing bad ever happens to them. They think that they have all the time in the world to do the things they want to do. In reality, no one knows how long they're on this earth. Nobody knows when their expiration date is. Why would you put off things that you can do right now? That's why I started making my bucket list, so I thought go ahead and share what's on my list (checked ones are things I've already done). I'd love to hear what's on anyone else's list, as well!

“That's right. I'm out of here. Do not chase me down or text me or try to talk me into going out to lunch. I don't have time to figure out if I have time for a run. I'm just going. The world will not fall apart in my absence. I might miss somebody's birthday cake or a discussion of last night's season finale. Even if I do, who cares. I'm coming back with a state of mind three coffees, two flirtatious emails and a week of vacation can't buy. Just do it.”
- NIKE

1. Learn how to surf
2. Get my driver's license ✔
3. Backpack across Europe
4. Watch the sun rise on a beach ✔
5. Complete the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
6. Go zip lining ✔
7. Swim with dolphins
8. Get a tattoo ✔
9. Get my bachelor's degree
10. Go skydiving
11. Buy my first car ✔
12.Visit Abbey Rd and recreate the Beatles album cover
13. Spend six weeks at Hedgebrook's Writers in Residence program
14. Go cliff diving off a waterfall
15. Volunteer in a 3rd world country ✔
16. Write and publish a book
17. Watch baby turtles hatch
18. Go to the Edgar Allan Poe Fest at the Warehouse on the Canal
19. Read every book my favorite author (Sarah Dessen) has written ✔
20. Spend the night at the Ohio State Reformatory
21. Ride in a hot air balloon
22. Learn glassblowing
23. Go to Topsail Island's Holiday Boat Flotilla
24. Live long enough to see cancer cured
25. Help build a house for Habitat for Humanity
26. Visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
27. Conquer one of my fears ✔
28. Make a stained glass window
29. Make a wish on a shooting star ✔
30. Get my CCW
31. Tour the house used in "A Christmas Story"
32. Go parasailing
33. See the Trans Siberian Orchestra in concert ✔
34. Go to Coachella at least once in my life
35. Go scuba diving
36. Race in the Color Run
37. Go whale watching on an Alaskan cruise
38. Get my belly button pierced
39. Go water zorbing
40. Go on a meditation or yoga retreat