Think of all the things I would do if I won the lottery, and then look for ways to work towards them now, even without a multimillion dollar bank account

I’m going to mark this as completed. All of the things are on my list so I am already working towards them. It’s always going to be in the back of my mind too :)

... a better way to present this would be: If I had nothing holding me down, what would I do?

In that case, I’d move to Sweden. I’d meet a beautiful swedish woman who shared my love of video games and distaste for the environmental and fiscal irresponsibility of the United States, and I guess that would be a pretty damn good start. I’m pretty sure I could figure it out from there.

Boy, that would be great. Also, completely different than what my life is like right this instant.

... and the major problem I have with this goal is that all the things I would do with money are money related. I would pay off my debts, my parents’ debts, set up a retirement fund for them, pay my brother’s way through college wherever he wanted, buy my meds with my own money… the only way to accomplish these things is with money.

Wow, that’s kind of depressing. Maybe I should drop this one.

I still want to figure out one more thing: What my dream job would be. Then I can start working towards it. I have to really start soul-searching for a job that I would like.

1.) paint
2.) write
3.) read
4.) travel

PAINT
I would lock myself away and have a giant space to paint, and lots of materials and a thousand ideas, and no time constraints or worries about My Future and getting a Real Job.

WRITE
I would lock myself away, and work on crafting an amazing novel. I would spend so much time researching, and writing, and not have to worry about hanging out with other people or fufilling stupid social duties.

READ
I would find a way to enjoy books the way I used to, to guzzle them up and feel that happy and warm feeling. I used to feel like my closest friends were literary characters. It sounds pathetic, but it was really nice actually.

I have realized that most of the things I would do if I won the lottery are on this list to begin with.

*Start my own Business (thus having a job I enjoy)
*Buy a house
*Get married (which I plan to do anyway, but it would be a huge ordeal)
*I would get fit by exercising and being on weight watchers (just like I am doing now)
*All the traveling on the list plus more!
*Buy my Manolo Blahniks (without worrying about the cost!)

Seriously, I am already working towards these goals! I am pretty happy right now since I have realized WHAT I want to do. Now it’s just a matter of getting started!

I love this one. I’m going to start by adding an entry with all of the things I would do, then I can start adding entries on each goal and how I can possibly achieve them.

I went to the high school graduation of a family member last night, and one part of the graduation address stuck with me. The presenter implored the graduates to frequently ask themselves, “what would I do if I weren’t afraid?”

I guess that’s the spirit of this goal for me. Thinking bigger and not focusing so much on the wall right in front of your nose, but on the big picture. “What would I do if I weren’t broke?” “What would I do if I had all the time in the world?” “What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?”

Last night I researched some of the schools in the area to see what I might expect for tuition and programs.

The tricky part is that I’m planning to move states sometime (only 15 miles!) which will leave me in non-resdent status in both states for a full year. Grr. Luckally there several universities around here, with something do-able in both states. I didn’t look at the community college prices yet. (Are community colleges even any cheaper than public universities these days?) Perhaps I can spend a year taking my prerequsites at the CC and while establishing residency and then transfer to one of the universities. Or I can try to figure out the non-degree admissions to get pre-recs done while a non-resident.

There has to be a way. For now though I think for sure I’m only going back to school part time. There is no way I can pay my mortgage (even with renters) without working full time.

I’d hire an architect to design my home, and an interior designer to help me clarify my design ideas. I would so love to have a beautiful home. I’d hire someone to clean it, or maybe since financial necessity wouldn’t force me to hold down a full-time job, I would take all the time I needed to clean and organize it myself.

So, once I wake from that pleasant dream and realize that I haven’t won the lottery, what can I take from that dream and manifest now? I have plenty of vacation time that’s going unused—even if I do take a weeklong vacation this year, I’ll have many additional days. I think I’ll take a few days off to work on my spring clean goal.

(P.S. My home would also be a super-low impact eco-house, but that’s something for another entry)