Changing the World

I had a breathing test the other day. I'm not really sure if I should be excited about 26% lung function, but I am!
 
I love hearing people's stories.

I desire to hear other people's thoughts.  

I guess that explains why I want to be a therapist in the future.

It's simply amazing to me how one person's individual reflections can spur on my own thoughts and push me to become more of the person I was meant to be.

This happened a few weeks ago. And it was quite frustrating, in fact.

I was reading a blog that I love, written by a friend named Stephanie. It was this post, specifically, that got me thinking. The title of the post is "I want to write a novel and become famous." And within the post, Stephanie reflects on various desires she has. One desire she expressed resonated with me, though:

It would be nice to be a hermit and read every book ever written (perhaps the size of the Beauty and the Beast library - full - of books), but I am also addicted to my computer and film, music, art, and to a certain degree, knowing what is happening in the world.

You see, I'm a reserved person by nature. And though I've been told that this is apparently "something to work on" by some, I know that I am who I am because God created me to be as such.

Naturally, then, as a reserved person, the idea of being a hermit appeals immensely to me. Don't mind the fact that I'm married to the most wonderful woman I've ever met. She could live with me in my hermit-life, I suppose (though that may be breaking some sort of hermit "code of conduct"). I realized something, though, as I read Stephanie's thoughts.

I want to enact change in this world. Big, small, or hardly noticeable. I want to change the world and change the lives of the people living in it. Unfortunately...

You can't be a recluse that changes the world. 

It just doesn't work that way.

So I fight against my nature to hide on a daily basis. I struggle with my mind's desire to remain hidden because I know that I am alive for a reason - God would have arranged otherwise long ago if that wasn't the case. I know that I am not alive today to become a hermit and disappear.

No, I'm here to stay, my friends. I'm here to make a difference. I'm here to change the world.

What about you? How do you dream of changing the world? What sort of change to you hope to bring by the time your life is complete? Would being a hermit jive with your dreams?

I'd love to hear from you about this (or anything else)! Just leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail!

P.S. If you liked this post, pleas share it with your friends! And if you haven't yet, be sure to find a way to follow Life Before the Bucket!

Dreaming Big

Guess what? Today's your lucky day! You get to listen to somebody much funnier and much more inspirational than I could ever hope to be! Ben is a great guy who wrote up a great post for you guys, so give him some love and go check out his blog!

Hi.

I'm Ben.

Which means I'm not Adrian. 

Which means this is a guest post.

Which means I'm making progress on my list of things to accomplish in my 19th year on this planet. Now that Kate Middleton is officially off the market, my goal of writing at least 7 guest posts for other blogs has moved up to the #2 spot.

What is #1 you ask from the edge of your seat?

Glad you asked.

It's to raise $10,000 to help me make my music and to provide clean water to a village that doesn't currently have it.

Last week a project that's been about 9 months in the making went live. That sounded like I made a baby didn't it? Well I didn't. It feels a little like my child, but it's not human. It's a crowdfunding project called thesoundofwater.

For anyone that may not know, "crowdfunding" is what it sounds like: acquiring funds using a crowd.

The biggest problem for me is finding the crowd. I have a blog, but not a huge following. So I'm looking for people that might share some of my passions to help me make this crazy dream a reality. (FYI, you can give to the project here. There are some awesome perks for donors. Check it out.)

The idea behind my project is to solve two problems I ran into at about the same time. The first one being a Neumann TLM 49 microphone is just out of my price range. The second one being almost 1,000,000,000 people around the world don't have access to clean drinking water.

I know a lot of the posts on this blog revolve around the "bucket list" concept. I can't give advice on how to successfully cross items off a "bucket list" because I haven't personally made it that far yet.

Here is what I can say just a few days into thesoundofwater:

Starting is fun. I may not have made much progress so far, but I already know that even though I'm now working 40 hours a week at a summer camp, and then spending all my free time working on thesoundofwater, I feel so much more alive than I did a couple months ago when I was in limbo without school, a job, or much of a life at all. (I watched a lot of Netflix. That was about it.) 

I can't give advice on how to finish. Besides a 2k race I did when I 10 years old I don't have a great finishing record. Something I can tell you already is that the first few days of living a story you've been outlining for months is a ton of fun.

Terrifying. But fun.

Start before you start. Even though the project only went live last week, I've been working on it since the beginning of October of last year. First conceptually. Then came a crap load (where did that saying come from. such a nasty mental image) of research. Then experimentation. Then more research. Then a period of thinking it was a horrible idea. Then I read this book again. Then more research. You get the picture. 

I don't know if I did enough preparation. I don't know how I'll ever know. I do know I'd be even more terrified than I am now if I hadn't meticulously planned out a lot of my steps. (note: don't over-plan. In the short time since the project went live I've already had multiple surprises. Good and bad. Don't make such a rigid plan that if something goes wrong it all goes wrong. Leave room for things to happen.)

Find a "can't lose" situation. That's what I did. I know that I could end up raising $12. But I realize that, though that would suck, my life will continue. I didn't leave my family or sell all my possessions to do this. It may be a little embarrassing and upsetting if I don't succeed like I want to, but that tiny price I may, or may not, have to pay should not be enough to keep me from trying. 

If it works. A lot of people benefit. I benefit in countless ways. So if it succeeds, it's a MAJOR win. If I fail, besides the small amounts of emotional discomfort it will cause, nothing really happens. Life resumes. With those being the only two possible outcomes, how could I sit back and do nothing?

....

So that's what I've got.

I'll be obnoxious for a sentence and make sure to remind you to visit thesoundfowater.

I've got a blog you may enjoy, too.

Also, I love the music of Greg Laswell. I love Top Chef. One time I rode on a train to Ohio. Sometimes I drink Gatorade. I love Canadian junk food. I'm done now.

One Question

This sickness is kicking the crap outta me. If you're into praying, I'd appreciate any long/short/quick/impromptu prayers you could say for me. Thanks in advance!

Today, I'm not feeling my best. But I want to leave something for you here, because I love you and don't want you to think I've abandoned you. So today, I've got one simple question for you:

If money were no object, where would you be and what would you be doing right now?

My answer?

Hopefully I'd be in a hospital, getting my lungs fixed. I realize it's a process, but hey, if money is no object, then maybe things would get done a little quicker. Ya know?

Let me hear your thoughts and answers to this question! Would you do something crazy? Or would you be somewhere vacationing? Or helping out somewhere? No answer can be wrong! Leave a comment and let me hear about it or e-mail me!