Accidental Punchlist

I have a punchlist. In fact whether we know it or not we all do. Some people realized that they wanted to be an accountant, a doctor, an engineer, and thus this desire moved onto their punchlist. Call it what you want. Call it your to do list or your to accomplish list. In fact if it never occurred to you to write this list down, then consider the idea well. Simply through writing down what you would like to achieve the idea is tangible. It is real even if only on a piece of paper.

I was pondering this thought the other day as I was working my second job. I reviewed the "check marks" on my list. Yes I've written three screenplays. Yes, I've pitched a television sitcom idea to studio executives. Yes I've jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and parachuted to the ground. Yes, I've been hit by a car as I walked down the street... twice. It was never on a list of goals or dreams. I never said as an apple cheeked youngster "when I grow up, I want to be hit by a car." And yet there it is. For the record: The cars screeched to a stop both times. Both times it was nothing more than a light hit. A bruise one of those times (I've taken worse falling off of a ladder three feet from the ground breaking my ankle).

Point is I realized then that I have another list that is wholly unpredictable. It's not all negative like getting hit by a car, most of my accidental list is quite wonderful. I fell into a part in a play in high school that we toured all over Wales, England with. I have drawn blood from an Alpaca. I rubbed the belly of an Alligator (an adult one). I met my better half.

Maybe the real testament is to notice that somehow both lists have shaped my life. Shown me purpose, Made me laugh, cry, who I am. I hope that you take notice. I hope you deliberately assert yourself for more. I hope you realize that two lists make up your life. Look it up. Mostly I hope that all of us cross off all of our dreams from our list.