Forty nine is not usually seen as a milestone birthday. It doesn't end in a zero, and it doesn't bestow upon one any new rights or responsibilities. Yet, for me, this one is a milestone of sorts. You see, I've decided to embark upon a challenge for the next twelve months, in anticipation of the big five-o. It is nothing huge, something that anyone can do.

First off, let me explain why I'm doing this. I asked myself, what did I fear most about aging? And the answer was, drum roll please, having my life become narrower. You know how it is, you get so comfortable in your routines, that you don't even realize that you go to the same restaurants, spend your evenings in the same chair, watching the same television shows. The very sameness that is comforting also terrifies me. Because I know it will only intensify as the years go by. So this little challenge is my way to broaden my life as I journey toward my fifties.

So here it is. I've come up with six categories that I will work on in the next year.
1. Read 50 books, at least half classic literature, at least one the New Testament
2. Learn 50 new things, big or small-time consuming or not
3. Go to 50 places I've never been, a bookstore, a park-it doesn't matter
4. Eat 50 new things, a recipe or a food I've never before sampled
5. Enter 50 contests of any sort
6. Provide some type of kindness, or assistance, or service to others 50 times

This is not a typical life list with big expensive things like visit all the continents, climb Mt Everest or jump from an airplane, but I look forward to it just the same.

For those of you wondering about the title. A few years ago, actually quite a few years ago, my father told me I should start working out and training for the senior games, and I laughed and said, "Dad! I'm only forty something." And he said, "that's just a short pirouette to fifty," and he was right. Time passes so quickly.

I hope you stick around, check back from time to time and see how I'm doing on my self-imposed challenge. I don't know what the next year holds, but I'll let you know. As for right now, it's time to begin My Short Pirouette To Fifty.