> What do you really, really want to do?
>
> My point in this post is mostly curiosity about what other people would do, if they could do anything they wanted. And if there's anybody out there who can make such a list, look through it, and say "I've already done most of them." And I'm curious about the reasons people give for not doing something which they really, really want to do, because I think that's the only way you can discover what things are really important to you.

I've been reading the various responses to this post, thinking, "Yes, I want to do that, too!" I want to see the whole world, go on a road trip, break a truly huge news story, get my master's degree, play the piano by ear well enough to contribute to a band started by friends who actually have the drive and potential to go places, learn to play the guitar. Will those things happen? None of them are out of the question, that's for sure. Are they important enough to me? I suppose time will tell.

Then there are the more immediate things: I want to conquer my coding woes and launch my new Web site, I want to graduate in May, I want to find a job that will at least pay the bills. Will those things happen? In all likelihood, yes, they will. Are they important to me? Enough so that I'll do them.

But when it comes down to it, there is one thing I want to do so much that I don't see how I'll feel that I've accomplished much of anything until I can see it through to completion. The idea was born years ago, has steadily gotten stronger, and about a month ago I realized that it doesn't have to be a distant dream. I want to write a book. It would be based on events in my life, but would not be as much of an autobiography or a memoir as a story with a purpose. The goal would be to reach others, to draw them in, and to leave them with something. The book will not be easy to write, it will require research in order to be done properly, and it may cause uneasiness for those who read it and realize they are in the story. But, if I do succeed in telling the story properly, my hope will be that the benefits far outweigh the negative parts.

So then there are the two questions. Will this happen? I realized as I read over the above paragraph that I went from "would" to "will." Apparently, it will happen one day. Is it important to me? Yes, it is. I want to tell the story so that others may read it and learn from it. There is no greater joy than to know that I have helped someone, and perhaps even changed their life. If even one person reads my story and gains something from it, everything will have been worth it.