Ticking items off the life list

Tonight I am standing in the kitchen, cleaning tiny octopus, mincing garlic & onions and sipping on a local white wine. Toni and Marianna are coming for dinner, the theme; seafood.
For someone interested in cooking, the ingredients here in Italy are like a fine set of tools.
I love to cook, and I really love to eat.
As the second glass of wine gets poured, I start to think…
I live in Italy, I have access to all these amazing things.
Today I went for a 4 hour ride that was, for a cyclist, equal to skiing bone dry, waist deep powder. Superb Italian roads and Dolomite passes.

All of this happened, quite possibly, because of Steve Elia and his continual updates of how his life list is progressing.
Three years ago Janine and I traveled with Steve and his wife Barbara. Steve, like me, has a bit of extra energy. “Oh, gotta put that on the life list.”, is regularly announced when something is:
a) fun
b) worth repeating
c) screwed up the first time but worthy of a second try
d) seems like a good idea

Other notable Steve lines are, and this is for just about everything:
“Why wouldn’t you?”
And:
“Get rid of the money”
…For, well, just about everything.
His enthusiasm stuck in my head for quite some time. He really does have a list, and he and Barbara have recently ticked off a major project, adopting two children from Guatemala.

So a year later, we made our own life lists and I went straight to work on some of my items.

2 years later, I have lived a dream of being a full time bike racer in Italy, and then even getting our own home in the Italian Dolomites. #1 and #2 on the list, check and check.
Janine’s is a bit more complicated as space travel is still not available to everyone, but she did build a beautiful greenhouse in which she loves to grow many things.

Little did Steve know how influential his life list would end up. When we live honestly, and true to our vision, the power from the reality we experience has the ability to positively affect the lives of others.