Introduction

Fifty is the theme for today. This is blog post number 50 and I’m 50 years old.  Hence, my 50/50 list.

Fifty is a nice number.  Halfway to 100.  Halfway through my life.  Now it is time to review my first 50 years with some of the things I’ve learned and want to share with you. Each item will be explained in 50 words or less.  Each item has to potential to be further explained in an upcoming blog post.  That’s it.  Fifty-fifty.  50/50.  Like it/hate it.  On/off. Heads/tails.  A lot of things in life are 50/50 but there is only one 50/50 blog post and this is it.  Here are my thoughts and lessons in no particular order of importance.

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My 50/50 List

1. There is life after death.  (Wow. What a way to start the list. My brain just fired that one out.)
2. Drinking water is purest thing we can do for ourselves.
3. Plants are all we really need to eat.
4. Having a job is one of the greatest privileges in life.  Working should make you feel awesome.
5. Volunteer time to your community to give kids opportunities that you would have liked to have had as a kid.
6. Take a short nap with your baby on your chest while sitting in a recliner.  Don’t worry, you can’t roll over the baby!
7. Tell your wife every day that you love her, and better yet, prove it to her with your actions.
8. Respect all women because they give so much of themselves to others and make the world a better place to live.
9. During each day, find someone doing a great job. Tell them that you appreciate what they are doing.  See them smile.
10. Learn to use the software program Tableau.  It is useful in so many ways and will continue to be over the foreseeable future.
11. Listen to the Rich Roll podcast series. Click here and be sure to listen to #s 50, 7, and 57. How ironic is that for a 50-themed post?
12. Appreciate every one of your friends and family every day.  They help shape you as a person and can be gone at any moment.
13. Show favoritism for sports teams, not kids.  Treat all kids with respect and equality.
14. Teach a class.
15. Ride a bike.
16. Say “please” and “thank you” throughout the day.  Mean what you say.
17. Examine the photography of Rodney Lough by clicking here.
18. Realize that not everyone has the right training and brain wiring to be a great sports coach.  If you know one of those people, simply try to appreciate their act of giving.
19. Provide thoughtful and kind leadership.
20. Set a physical goal.  Achieve it.  Push beyond it to achieve another, higher goal.
21. I have realized that aging doesn’t imply impending doom and gloom.  My mental acuity and physicality are improving with age.  Health and wellness education is the key to unlocking this potential.
22. Honeycrisp apples grown in Michigan are about as good as any food can get.
23. Read a book written by John McPhee.
24. Realize that things are not as great as they at first seem to be and that they are never as bad as they seem to be.
25. Car companies do a great job trying to convince us that we need their newest model.  The message is not true but the cars keep getting more seductive (and unaffordable!).
26. Pray.  Afterwords, use your energy to improve the conditions that you are praying about.
27. Realize that education and learning never stop in life.
28. Strive for continuous improvement as a person on a daily basis.  Think about creating your own 50/50 type list.
29. Don’t sacrifice your ethics or morals for money.  Work honestly for money.
30. If you want clarity of thought with a mind that feels like a supercomputer, just eat plants. It might take a couple of months to notice the difference, but you will. That is guaranteed.
31. Avoid buying things with credit cards.
32. Make a list of your favorite 10 songs or musical groups/soloists and share it with your friends and family.
33. Take a few minutes to be silly every day.  Dance with your baby, jump on the bed, play hide and seek, have pillow fights and do the things we forget about doing when we get older.
34. Identify something that you are really good at doing.  Go do it.  Get better.  Become the best that you can be.  Teach someone else how to do it.
35. I am not going to retire.  Therefore, I’m not waiting to do something at that time.  If you want to do it, today is a great day to start.
36. I will produce the world’s best back scratcher.  You heard it here first.  You will want one.
37. Start a blog.  Write your life story for your kids.  Leave behind something for future generations to remember you by. Teach others.
38. In that blog, write two specific posts that predict what life will be like in: (1) 25 years, (2) 50 years.  Live to see how accurate your predictions were.
39. Take math classes until you can no longer understand the content.  Find your intrinsic limits.  Work to go beyond those limits.
40. Create a box for each of your kids that contains some of their best school work throughout the years.  Give it to them on their wedding day.
41. Create a digital archive for your kids with all the videos and pictures you have taken of them through the years.  Give that to them on their wedding day.
42. Get your DNA profile completed to better understand and explore your heritage.
43. Think about the songs in your life that are related to the best experiences you have had.  Go listen to those songs once in a while.
44. Reach backwards in time and thank the teachers that helped you learn.  It is easy to send them a message expressing your gratitude.
45. Listen to what your parents are telling you. Believe what they say to be true. Learn from them and don’t repeat their mistakes.
46. Improve your ability to multi-task by listening to audio books and podcasts when safe to do so.
47. Start your day with a little exercise.  Ten to twenty minutes on a treadmill or stationary bike gets the motor running just fine and is easy to do. Read your Twitter stream while you are doing it.
48. Time seems to accelerate as we age.  I first noticed it in college and it continues to accelerate to this day.  A day now seems like a few minutes to me.  Use your time wisely and don’t waste it.
49. Discover the endless beauty in our daytime clouds and nighttime sky.  Try to fly in your mind to the edge of our universe and imagine what exists just beyond the expanding boundary.
50. Respect the earth, the animals, the plants, the water and all the beauty that surrounds us.  Help others do the same and volunteer time by cleaning your local community.