Firstly, a reminder of the list …
- Learn to ride a motorbike
- Go skydiving
Learn how to ski/surf- Eat a vegetable that you’ve grown from seed
- Deadlift 100kg
Pay for a stranger’s meal- Swim Boscombe to Bournemouth pier
- Learn how to play poker
- Do the splits
Have visited 30 countriesCycle London to BrightonGo to the opera- Read the bible entirely
- Get a tattoo
- Sleep under the stars
- Repair a bike puncture
- Go to a life drawing class
Engage in a clinical trialGo to Shakespeare’s GlobeGo to an outdoor screening of a film- Sell a piece of artwork you’ve created
Carve a pumpkin- Do a pull-up
- Go stand-up paddle boarding
- Climb the three peaks
- Write and record a song
- Learn to play chess
- Visit someone in prison
- Read a famous trilogy
Become a doctor
This is the 10th strikethrough, which means I’m a third of the way there!
It also means i’ve still got 20 the do it the next 234 days, which means I really need to pick up the pace because that’s about one every 10 days. EEK.
So this one wasn’t quite as successful as I expected. Number 6: Pay for a stranger’s meal.
I think what I had imagined when I added this one to the list was this romanticised opportunity – to see a cute young couple on a first date and just pay for the bill for no reason other than just to bless them; that sort of thing.
Instead what happened was that I was walking into the supermarket on one of those bitterly cold icy evenings where there was a whipping wind. Outside there was a man sat begging. As any of you who know me well know, I really do hate the cold more than anything else in the world. I felt so moved by this guy sat out in these awful conditions. He asked if I had any change (I think i’m not the only one who would say I don’t think I’ve even used cash since the start of the pandemic), so I said no but asked him if I could buy him some food. His request is very simple; a Big Mac from McDonalds.
I promised that after my shopping I would indeed pick this up on my way out. Much to my infuriation the queue was very large (note to self for future: order, shop, then collect!) But I waited thinking, ‘at least it’ll be nice and hot’.
Much to my disappointment, when I came out, the man had gone.
I was then left to mull over my thoughts and feelings on it. Likely this man had received some money from a stranger (which is what he was ultimately asking for) and hadn’t wanted to wait around to see if I was going to come through on what I said I would.
Naturally I am a highly cynical person and felt that I should have seen this coming, but I had to also think about putting myself in this stranger’s shoes. How long would I have waited on a cold night like this for someone I’d never met before, who’s character I didn’t know, to do something like this?
I’m not entirely sure, but what I can say is that this whole thing gave me a whole lot to think about and I feel that this certainly will not be the only time I tick this one off the list.