My bucket list

To do something different I decided to try writing in English for a change. And what better way to break from the norm than to write a bucket list. So here are a few of the things I want to do before I kick the bucket.

1. Run a marathon

I've never considered myself to be the runner type and in school physical education classes didn't exactly inspire me to ever become one either. When I went to serve in the Finnish Defense Forces as a conscript in 2011 I had no idea how much I'd be running the following year, almost never voluntarily. Strangely enough this was exactly the time that I realised it isn't too bad.

Although I suffered from severe shin splits I managed to run a respectable 24 kilometres as a part of a military exercise/competition. Now I have been running regularly for a year and steadily improving without losing my motivation. Hell, I actually might even enjoy it from time to time, especially during winter time. There's just something special about running in freezing conditions that I just can't explain, yet it keeps me coming back for more.

2. Write a novel

This blog has definitely changed my whole outlook on writing in general: I always used to think that anyone who's the writer type has known it from birth and that I wasn't one of them. While I still can't say I'm a writer, the idea of creating my own book is definitely looking better and more realistic. 

Will the first novel I ever write recieve the Finlandia Prize? Probably not. But after finishing it I could always go around telling people that I'm a novelist, instead of the more boring profession I might have at the time. One can always dream.

3. Visit & build Africa

So far in my life I have been very blessed and given the opportunity to do a lot of traveling. So far I've visited 17 countries in Europe, North America and Asia combined. It's only natural for Africa to be next. 

However, I plan on doing more than just tourism when I arrive. As we all know, Africa is somewhat behind in economic growth compared to the United States or the most of Europe.  Why is this exactly? There is no one single reason to explain it completely, but rather a sum of reasons. A lot of them can be summed up under not having the same foundations to build upon, especially infrastructure. 

I want to fix that, or at least try to. What I plan to do is establish a company somewhere in rural Africa with the purpose of building inexpensive infrastructure to support trade and economic growth. This means not only roads and housing, but also telecommunications and plumbing. 

The so called Western societies have for long tried to aid Africa in it's attempt to catch up, so-to speak, with food, medicine and money. This surely improves the situation, but doesn't help Africa help itself. Of course it's much easier to market "curing the ill" to potential benefactors, rather than something like waste management. However change for the better in Africa needs come from the inside. They need to be the ones curing their own ill, educating each other and creating wealth. They just need a head-start, for which infrastructure is excellent. 

Synopsis

These are just some of the things I want to do before I die. While they aren't something I'm actively fighting to achieve every day, they're always in the back of my head and some times act as a driving force behind my decisions in life. They might stay or they might change but I like to think that ideas like these are what help us define ourselves. 

Everyone has something they want to do and these things are different based on our lifestyle and values. It doesn't matter what size or how socially acceptable the things on your list are, only that you want to do them. Just remember to actually do them once in a while, because when life is fleeting from our bodies we won't regret the things we did, only the things we didn't.

PS. As I'm writing this it's 10 pm on a Saturday evening with the outside temperature being at around -10 degrees Celcius. Despite this I think I'll go for a run, because some day in the near future I'm going to run a marathon.