环球英语 — 296：Life Lists

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Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight 1. I’m Ryan Geertsma.

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And I’m Ruby 2 Jones. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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Michael Ogden loved his grandfather. His grandfather was not an emotional 3 man. But Michael clearly remembers the last day he saw his grandfather.

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“The last day I saw him before he died, he told my sister and me the story of his life. He talked for two hours. He told stories about his successes and his regrets.”

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Michael had not heard many of these stories. When he and his sister left their grandfather, they began to talk. Together they wondered about their own lives. What would they think about before they died? What would they remember? What would they regret not trying? His sister told Michael that she had recently made a list. This list contained all the things she wanted to do before she died. The next day, Michael made his own list.

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“I thought, one day I will be dead, so I asked myself, what experiences do I want to explore?”

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Michael discovered that there was more he dreamed of doing in his life. For example, he was a writer. But he loved music. He had even written some songs. He could play them on one instrument - a guitar. But when he played them he imagined parts for many instruments. One of his dreams was to record the music. He wanted to make the songs sound the way he heard them in his head. So he decided 4 to do it!

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“I had a wonderful time recording 5 the songs! I knew that if I lived five or fifty years after that, I would always remember that experience.”

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Michael became very excited about life goals. He talked about them with family and friends. One of these friends was Chris Day. Together, Chris and Michael made another new life goal. They decided to write a book about life goals! They wanted this book to be different. So they included stories from many people. Each story is about a person doing one of his life goals. They recorded 70 stories total.

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Many adults find that they ask the same question Michael did. They may start to wonder about their lives. They wonder what things they will regret. And they wonder what things they will consider good experiences.

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Caroline Miller 6 is a performance and life coach. She helps people set goals. And then she helps them achieve these goals. She encourages the people she works 7 with to create a life list. This list is simply a list of goals. The list causes a person to think about what things or events would make them happy with their whole life: in the present and the future. Life lists help people establish what is important to them. It helps every-day goals lead to the larger goal. Caroline says,

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“Having a life list helps make your beliefs clear. You have a road map. That is one of the things that is so important.”

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One woman came to Caroline because she wanted her life to have more meaning. This woman’s job was to manage money and other resources 8. After meeting with Caroline she discovered she wanted to be a doctor. So Caroline helped this woman create a plan to achieve her dream. Now she is in medical school.

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Caroline has her own life list too! She shares it on her website. Keeping a list helps her to concentrate 9 on her goals. Caroline says that her father is one of the reasons she created her own life list.

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Her father loved studying the travels of Odysseus, a well-known character from ancient Greek 10 stories.

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“My whole life I heard my father discuss his excitement for following Odysseus’ travels around the Greek islands...I thought this would be the first thing my father would do as his children went to college and started their adult lives.”

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But Caroline’s father never did travel to the places Odysseus went. He died at age 69 from a terrible disease 11. On the night he died, Caroline and her family sat in his hospital room. They wondered why he never went after his dream.

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“As I looked at my father’s body, all I could ask myself helplessly 12 was, ‘Why did you not do it Father?’ This thought made me sad.”

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Caroline decided she did not want her children to have the same question when she died.

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Ashley Andrews has also made a life list. She is a college student. She says that making a life list makes her feel good.

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“It gives you something to look forward to. It gives a person something to work for. Something to finish. And finishing something on your life list gives you a feeling of achievement.

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Creating a life list has become a popular idea. There are many books to help a person decide what should be on their own life list. These books offer ideas like the best places to see or the best foods to try. And there are films about people trying to achieve their life goals. A recent one is about two men who find out they have cancer. Together they decide to try and do as many things on their life list as possible - before they die.

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Many people are choosing to share their life lists on the internet too. Some people put their lists on their own website, like Caroline Miller does. And others join internet communities to share their life lists. Anyone can join these communities. And usually they do not cost any money.

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One of these communities is 43things.com. On this website, people can create their life list and share it with other people. Other people can also ask questions. They can encourage each other to reach particular goals. This helps some individuals put more effort into reaching their goals.

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What about you? Do you think creating a life list is a good idea? What kinds of things would be on your life list? Email us with your comments at radio @ english . net.