惡女... 對, 我心地壞的不得了, 你咬我啊...

很久以前在讀者文摘上看到一篇文章
"離開這個世界前你想做的五十件事"
當時我讀的是中文版
剛來美國的我
非常想找到英文原文

才學會用電腦跟網路
在根本不知道作者的英文名字
也不確定是英文版的那一期之下
我冒昧的寫了信去美國的讀者文摘
希望能拿到英文原版文章

令我驚訝的是
讀者文摘很快就回了我信
寄了電子版給我
稍後又郵寄了影印的文章給我

這是好多年前的事情(八年了吧)
因為這次搬家大整理
看到信我才想起

來看看這篇文章吧

If you want to know whats really important to you, make a list

50 Things to Do
Before I Die

From Washington Post
Wendy Swallow Williams

A  few  weeks ago I followed a friend into an art-supply store. I found him picking  out tubes of watercolor paint, which surprised me because he's not an artist.

"I  signed  up  for  a  watercolor class, and it starts next week," he said sheepishly.  "I  don't really have time for it, but it was on my list of 50 things to do before I die, so I went for it."

This sounded interesting. "What else is on the list?" I asked. "All  kinds  of  things," he said. "Every few months I look at the list and decide  what  to focus on next. Before I had the list, I moaned a lot about what I was missing in my life. Now I just do stuff."

"Can I see your list sometime?" I asked. "I  don't  know," he said. "It reveals a lot about me. Write your own list, and you'll see what I mean." So that night I did just that, and he was right. The list revealed a whole
lot  about what was important to me. It also revealed how hopelessly behind I am at getting to the things I really want.
Just  writing  the  list helped me sort through priorities. I filled up the first  20  blanks  quickly, but then began to think carefully. Eventually I added items I've thought about for years, dreams I've carried with me since I  was young, and things that resonated when I first heard about them. When I reviewed the list later, some entries surprised me.

First,  I  want  to travel much more, particularly now that my children are older and can go with me to see the world. There are ten trips I would like to  make  with  the  boys--from  biking  through  Denmark to camping in the Canadian Rockies.

I also  was surprised to find some things on the list that need to be done soon.  If I'm going to learn to Rollerblade, for instance, I'd better start before I turn 50. Some  items,  though,  I  can put off until I'm older. I would love to grow flowers,  to really garden, but while I'm raising kids and working, I don't have time for roses.

I  would  love  to do volunteer work in a hospital nursery someday, rocking crying infants and giving them their first baths. I would like to work with teen-agers,  leading  youth  groups or helping at the local high school.  If I'm  going  to  do these, though, I may need to reconsider running the bake sale for the school fair each year.

A  few of the items are intimidating because they mean a serious commitment of  some  sort.  I  would like to publish a novel before I die, and I would like  to  get  a Ph.D. in English literature. I also would like to learn to draw and play piano with a string quartet. If I'm going to accomplish these things, I need to start writing every day and polishing my piano skills.

I  may  not make it through the list. Some things may just be out of reach, such  as  New Zea-land, and others ultimately may not work with the rest of my  life,  such  as owning a horse. Yet I see that I already have built the
framework  for  many  of  these  pipe dreams, and that if I make them goals today, there is no reason I can't find a way to taste at least part of that reality tomorrow.

Like  my  friend,  I now have an alternative to complaining. When I'm bored with  my life, I take out my list. Maybe I'll send off for travel brochures or  take  my  pencils  out  in the back yard and doodle around for an hour, trying to sketch trees that look like trees.

I have no idea how the boys and I will get to Africa, but if it's important enough,  I'm  sure  we'll  find  a  way.  One of them might grow up to be a zoologist, or I might become a nature writer and get sent on assignment, or maybe we'll just save a few dollars every week till we have enough.

I  had  a  cousin who accomplished an amazing string of interesting  things. She  once  told  me  the  key  was  preparing  so  that  life could work in mysterious ways. "If you want your ship to come in, you must build a dock," she said.

Thanks to my list, I'm working on some big docks.