40 Things in my 40th Year

Happy New Year everyone!  2021 really does begin with mixed emotions.  On one hand, we are again at the beginning of 12 months in which so many hopes and wishes could be fulfilled.  People have plans that have been on hold since the early part of the year right through to now, and hopefully be able to resurrect them soon.  Holidays were postponed and cancelled, and family/friends time has become so much more precious to us.  On the other hand, we still feel this incredible sense of uncertainty – life is still nowhere near returning to ‘normal’ and it is very difficult to make firm decisions about things, ‘just in case’.

However, there are some things that are immovable, unchangeable and will happen regardless of anything else happening around the world.  That is the focus of this post, and I asked Emma if she wouldn’t mind indulging me with a series of guest posts.  May I also thank lots of you for your very kind feedback and comments about some of my previous posts on the blog – I read every single one of them and was touched that lots of you took time to comment on my posts and encouraged me to write more often.  It was nice to know that so many of you read my pieces!

40 things

I mentioned some immovable things just now.  2021 is the year that I turn 40 (in early April).  Now, having contemplated the utter rubbish and terrible circumstances that comprised most of 2020, I decided that I needed to do something proactive.  With all due respect to the situation that we continue to find ourselves in, I wanted something to look forward to.  I wanted something to mark 2021, something to look back on with pride, satisfaction and enjoyment.  Something ambitious, yet eminently possible to achieve.  With all of this mind, I have created my ’40 Things to do in my 40^th Year’ list.  I would very much like to share this list with you, and some of the stories behind it.

During 2021, I am going to write a series of guest posts during 2021, charting the progress towards achieving all of the goals on the list.  I am also going to share with you a few more posts in the coming weeks as I explore some of the reasons behind adding the goals to the list.  All you need to know for the moment, is that I have selected all of these myself.  I have shared them with Emma and the boys, with my friends and family on Facebook, and now I am sharing them here too.  Some of the goals are relatively easy to achieve, some of them require some logistical planning (I love doing that, by the way), and some require some financial planning to achieve.

Here is my list:

1. Fly somewhere
2. Stay somewhere with a hot tub
3. Visit Cornwall
4. Drive a fast car
5. Go to a touring car meeting
6. Go to a touring car meeting at a new circuit
7. Watch an international sporting event live
8. Write a children’s book
9. Raise money for a charity
10. Take a city break in a new city in the UK
11. Take a city break in a new city in Europe
12. Stay in a beachfront location
13. Have a golf lesson
14. Take on a 9-hole round of golf
15. Play an 18-hole round of golf
16. Have a round of golf on a well-known golf course
17. Take up a new sport/game
18. Watch live darts
19. Hold a barbeque for family
20. Hold a barbeque for friends
21. Host a dinner party
22. Use a ‘proper’ flight simulator
23. Watch 40 ‘new’ films
24. Go for a walk at least once a day
25. Visit the Spaceguard Centre in Wales
26. Build a big Lego model
27. Go to a Walsall FC away match
28. Visit the three home nations
29. Watch a live cricket match
30. Have a day out in London
31. Get a bike
32. Re-model the front of the house
33. Go for a pint in 40 new pubs
34. Make a train journey over 3 hours long
35. Order room service at a hotel
36. Go out for a meal with just Emma at least 5 times
37. Read 5 new books
38. Go to a live dance gig
39. Buy a new console game and complete it
40. Go to a Greek night

I will elaborate on why these items have made it into my 40 in future posts, so do look out for them.

No time like the present

The quest to achieving these goals begins today.  We have already made one successful tally in the chart next to number 24 and went for a walk as a family this evening to look at the Christmas lights in our local area.  As we pointed out to our eldest, 1 down; just the 364 to go!

The excitement is real. I can’t wait to get started on some of these goals.  Look out for my future guest articles on these, I will do a monthly round up where I will share some stories and photographs of the achievements and milestones, and let’s hope that by this time next year, I may not be a millionaire (to quote Del Boy), but my life will be that much richer as a result of some wonderfully fulfilling experiences, to mark the year that ’life begins’!  I will also be attempting to make more use of my Twitter and Insta feeds this year too, so if you want to follow me on there, I am @shilts on Twitter and greg.shilton on Insta – I will use the hashtag #shilts40 to mark the pictures and posts.

Once again, happy new year to you; all the best for a safe, healthy and much improved 2021.