Old. List. Success. And Selling short.

Was reading this blog of a friend. She was speaking about how she never had a concrete few things to achieve by a certain age.

It got me thinking. So a few emails ensued, to a few people. And phone calls of course. You know who you are, if you still read this blog.

Puzzling. Is it that you didn't want to tell me, folks? Or is it that I really am so much of an anomaly?

None of you, not even one of you had actually listed down things you wanted to achieve, (or have ... or get ... or have done) by 30? 35? You NEVER made a list? Really?

The oldest (probably the fourth, in all) list of approximates that I made that I still own, of things that I wanted by age 30, which I then modified to 31 and then 32 (and this last little modification is made now), was made at about age 17, when I had just landed up in Kolkata. I am an inveterate and compulsive listmaker; didn't you guess that, Einstein?

Okay, I did not end up having a relationship with that Banerjee girl (what pragmatism... I even have this written as a margin note - marriage is a long term thing, many things change... a smug 'having a relationship' sits beside a scratched out 'marrying'... man, this is funny as hell .... I spoke to her about twice I suppose, but hell was she cute), and neither have I seen an Aurora Borealis, but many of the things I was looking for then, are either accomplished or very nearly so today. Now c'mon, how difficult is an Aurora Borealis really?

And here's the hark back. Is this being defensive? Is this an extension to not really daring to dream, daring to dare? And is it such that setting the bar low, ensuring that I do not really fall flat on my face even looking at a 14-year old scribble, is just another extension of selling myself short?

Know what, I never really thought I was setting the bar low. But I indeed was very intent on being serious about the whole thing.

Dare to dream, they say. But they also say 'Plan to fail, but never fail to plan'. So? So what's the solution?