30 things to do before I'm 30

Thanks for taking an interest in this blog. This is a personal project to do 30 things before I turn 30 on 3 June 2011.  These are either things I've been meaning to do for ages and haven't, or things that are challenges, or things that I'd like to do before I'm 30 because I might be less able for financial or other reasons to do them after I'm 30. You can read the list now on the right-hand side of this page.

Some things on the list are very easy to achieve but will nevertheless be interesting.  I, like a lot of Londoners, am guilty of not making the most of this amazing city that I live in.  For this reason, I hope that this list will help me to do that by giving me an incentive to visit a load of places and go to the opera and the ballet, all of which I've wanted to do for ages.  I'll try and blog about every visit and performance I go to so you can hear what I thought and maybe it'll encourage you to go and do the same things!

Some of them are a little silly and potentially outside my control - growing my hair to my elbows, for instance, may just be impossible as it seems to be growing pretty slowly! Some of them are real challenges. Controlling my eczema, digestive issues, positivity and stress levels will require huge amounts of will power. I've started to learn in the past 6 months or so that I can control a lot of my niggley problems including digestive issues, eczema and other skin problems, allergies, energy slumps and even knee problems, by following a very strict diet most of the time. This is easier to follow at some times than it is at others, but sticking with it for any length of time is a challenge (particularly avoiding chocolate, cake, biscuits, ice cream and cheese!), but so worth it when my eczema on my hands clears up completely without the helps of any medicine or scary steroid creams that thin your skin etc. I am also aware that my eczema and other problems are acutely linked to stress so I want to to work on being more positive and on trying to tackle the stress which I largely inflict on myself.

A few of the items are to do with self improvement.  I want to learn new creative skills to broaden my repertoire (I make jewellery and cards and do a bit of sewing and cross stitch).  I like to feel that I have a life outside of work as this helps me to remember to work to live rather than live to work (although I do find my job and the sector I work in interesting and stimulating).  Being creative is one aspect of this and maintaining an active lifestyle is another (more on this below).  Broadening my cultural horizons is also something that I want to concentrate on. 

I used be a really avid reader as a child and I read a considerable number of the classics when I was relatively young.  As I've got older though, other things have taken precedence and I miss the escapism I used to be able to get from a whole afternoon of just curling up with a really amazing book, not to mention how much I learnt about the world and the past through reading really good literature.  I hope that by reading 5 'classics' that I haven't read before I might broaden my horizons a little more.  I've selected my 5 classic films partly from ones that I've meant to watch for ages like Breakfast at Tiffany's but also from a selection that my 91-year old Grandma tells me she and my Grandad (who is sadly no longer with us) saw at the cinema together in the 1930s. 

Also, in the spirit of reviving past skills and loves, I desperately need to revivify my piano playing.  I achieved grade 8 in piano and flute around the age of 18 and whilst I still (rather badly) play flute in a concert band, my piano has now diminished to a woefully low level of rustiness so that I can barely play Chopsticks any more.  I spent 12 years, from the age of 6, really perfecting this skill and I can't bear the idea that this was all wasted so I want to refind the enjoyment I used to get from it by learning 3 new proper, difficult piano pieces.
One of the most important self-betterment items on that list, however, which I really hope I can manage to achieve is the point about writing a handwritten letter or card to someone I care about every week.  My close and extended family and my friends are an incredibly important part of my life and I want to show them how much I value them and try to be a good friend and relative to them, even when I'm busy.  In a world where the internet is everywhere (and I LOVE the fact that it is) I think the art of writing letters by hand is dying and yet the pleasure that can be derived from receiving post hasn't diminished so I hope I can repay my family and friends a little for their support, love and friendship by bringing one of them a little bit of pleasure each week.

You'll notice that there are quite a few running-related items on my list.  If anyone reading this doesn't know me, let me dispel any images of me as some kind of fitness freak.  Until 2 years ago I was an exercise-averse, horrifically unfit person who couldn't walk up stairs without getting very out of breath.  Since leaving secondary school I'd done very little regular exercise, and had let various well-intentioned gym memberships lapse.  In 2006 I ran a 5km Race for Life but the propsect beforehand made me really nervous because when I started to train I felt unable to run for more than 5 minutes (or even 2) without getting out of breath and having to stop.  I ran it very slowly in something like 45 minutes but this was a big achievement.  In 2008 I joined an organisation called Fit for a Princess which runs women-only outdoor workouts and bootcamps around the green spaces of South West London (and further afield now thanks to some recently established franchises).  We work out (very) early in the morning - from 6.15-7.15am - and lots of people think that I am completely crazy.  However, in the two years I've been doing it, I've found an exercise formula that really suits me, I enjoy it and I feel so much better.  It's also through FFAP that I've rediscovered running which was the only sport I was any good at at school.  I set myself a goal at the start of 2009 to see if I could run two 10kms last year, a half marathon this year and maybe, just maybe, the London marathon in 2011, just before I turn 30.  I promise you that this is a MASSIVE deal - at the moment I've never run further than 10km, and whilst I am a lot fitter than I was, I'm not one of those people who really is at the peak of their fitness.  And I'm really nervous about the training that would be required for the marathon, but it's good to set yourself really challenging goals I think.  I am running a 10km this coming Saturday, and have signed up to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October this year.  After that I'll think more seriously about whether the marathon is a possibility.

I hope you will join me in my journey to get these 30 things ticked off before 3 June next year and that enjoy reading about it all here.

Thanks for reading!