Making a List

     I set out to make a list of things I want out of life; things I want to do.  I was quite surprised how hard this was.  While it seems simple to roll around a mental list of things you might like to have, it is actually quite difficult to come up with things you want purely for yourself.  I performed this exercise because I felt that I may not be sure of what I wanted and thus might not really be focusing on it.  You might be fairly amazed at how thought provoking this can be.  This exercise has 3 rules.

     Rule 1: No wants that require another person to do something.
     You just can not control what other people may do no matter how much you want them to.  Leave these off your list.  Examples to avoid include: "I want Jane to love me", "I want a partner in my life", "I want to make my partner happy."

     Rule 2: No wants that don't directly involve you doing something.
     Examples: "I want world peace", "I want housing costs to be cheaper", or "I want life to be easier".  Basically these are all things that you probably can not achieve directly even if you can help them along.  If you really want to achieve world peace then say something like "I want to volunteer for the UN."

     Rule 3: No negative wants or "I do not wants"
     Examples: "I don't want to be poor", "I want Bob's house to burn down", etc.  Every example I came up with could be restated with a positive want.  If you don't want to be sick, then you want to be healthy and fit.  If you don't want to be afraid anymore, then you want to live bravely.

     This is primarily a set of things you want to actively do or seek in your life.  Now we'll make a separate list for what you want in a partner, but you need to have this list of what you want in life first.  Really write these down.  There is a real significance to seeing what you want written down.  I'd love to hear what you discover about yourself in this.  No one has to share their list.
     A little bit more about why I chose to do this...  For a long time I've been watching the Universe and seeing how it prods us all along on our paths.  I began to realize that while I know the Universe will conspire to deliver our happiness when we seek it, we still get to make our own choices.  I was too caught up in seeking what I was meant to do and not really deciding what I wanted to do.  Thus the list.