Live the life you have imagined. -Thoreau

I wrote this at the beginning of my summer on May 3rd.
I just realized that I sort of want a different life. I mean I have ALOT of good things to be thankful for but it really wasn't my ideal life. I have always been starry eyed and had great plans of doing art and traveling. For some reason I guess I thought that life would just come to me but thats not how it works. So i want to make my life the life that I want to live. I am going to chose my life, not just react. I realized that only doing is doing. If you want to do something nothing should stop you. If you really WANT to do it DO IT. it seems so simple but yet if we really tried it I think alot of people would be different and happier. So the question then comes what do I want to do? Who do I want to be?

In order to come to know what I want to do with my life and the kind of person I want to be I have to start at my source. Well lets start with my purpose in life. God. Praising him and bringing him glory and loving him in all I do. If I only give 95% that is 5% short. So how am I going to be FULLY on fire for GOD? I had a couple ways of how my life should go this summer. I was thinking about becoming a minimalist for a couple reasons... I have alot of stuff I never use, which isn't right. But instead I decided that I shouldn't just throw things out that I would use, just to have a little. Instead I would honestly go through everything I have and get rid of things I know deep down I will never use. Second I wanted a change, I wanted something different and I was thinking that this would do it. But really I realized today that I need to change my life. I need to change my attitude and habits and not just my surroundings. I could get rid of the physical clutter but I also needed to get rid of the things I didn't want in my life mentally I guess you could say.
I made a huge list of things I wanted my life to be like. Here are some of them...

I have always wanted to read a plethora of books...so i am going to pick out a book each week and read it. So that adds up to 15 books.
I want to do fun exciting things. something out of the normal. I want to take a road trip go camping I want to rock climb and try new things events, foods, etc..
I want to be able to run a marathon.
I want to know history. medicine. how to fly a plane.
I want to read great poems and reflect on them.
I want to learn about art history.
I want to care about the earth.
I want to learn a instrument Guitar or piano or drums or both.
I want to jump 3 feet high.
I want to learn about Egypt and archaeological excavations .
I want to spend as little money as possible, having fun without needing to spend tons of money.
I want to learn the streets of Chicago in and out.
I want to vote and register to vote.
I want to write poems or a story and illustrate it.
I want to learn how to make my own clothes and sew.
I want to make a recipe book.
I want to send letters to my friends and care about them.
I want to watch a storm.
I want to create a pic for lyssa
I want to get up in the morning see sunrises and run and bike
I want to take walks with God.
I want to listen to God... enjoy silence.
I want to go to turtle head and have a picnic.
I want to play beach volleyball.
I want to go sailing.
I want to get to know my friends better.
I want to listen to different kinds of music I don't normally listen to.
I want to create an artwork to a piece of music.
I want to buy an easel.
I want to learn/memorize bible verses.
I want to learn about other religions.
I want to restore past broken relationships.

So that is some of the things I planned to change in my life at the beginning of the summer and I think I have done a good job of seeing most of them through. So try it. Figure out what matters most to you, combine it with the life you have always imagined for yourself and go do it. This is not just a checklist its a new way of life.