He wrote: "Explore the Nile, Amazon and Congo"; In addition, it is necessary to "climb Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Matorun; Riding elephants, camels, ostriches and wild horses; Follow in the footsteps of Kyle Poirot and Alexander the Great; Play a strong and flexible man in the movie; Upper and lower aircraft carriers; Read Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle; Create a musical work; Write a book; Visit every country in the world; Get married and have children; Visit the moon. "
He numbered each item, which was 127 in total. This list is not just a confession dream on a rainy afternoon: he knows it is a challenge.
Today, Goddard, who is thin and looks young, is 59 years old. He has traveled and explored countless times. He is a film producer, writer and speaker. His home is in Southern California, and he and his wife live in an ordinary ranch house. This house is unusual, full of head statues, silver swords, beautiful braids and other exotic handicrafts, which can remind him of the past. A long time ago, when Goddard mentioned this list, he smiled gently at his boyhood ambition.
He said, "I made that list because when I was 15 years old, I was very aware of my limitations. I am just a child with potential (everyone has this temperament), and I really want to do these things in my life. I am extremely interested in everything-travel, medicine, music, literature, nature, all these things I really want to do. I made a blueprint to achieve my goal, so that I can pursue it forever. I also know a lot about some people around me. They are old-fashioned, never take risks and never challenge themselves. I decided not to let myself fall into this stereotype. "
After listing his dreams on paper, Goddard began to turn them into reality against time. At the age of 0/6, he and his father explored the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia and the Everglades in Florida. "This is the first thing on the list." He still remembers it vividly. "The early thing was to learn to dive, own a horse and drive a car." By the age of 20, he had been diving in the Caribbean, Aegean Sea and Red Sea. He also became an air force pilot and carried out 33 combat missions over Europe.
Soon he will be 2 1 year-old and has traveled to 2 1 countries. At the age of 22, he found a Mayan tomb deep in the jungle of Guatemala. In the same year, he became the youngest member of the Los Angeles Explorers Club, and then he began to plan the most desired adventure, which was his 1 early goal: exploring the Nile.
"I put the Nile in the first place," Goddard said, "because in my opinion, it is the most important landform on earth. The Nile is the epitome of Africa as a whole. The Nile valley has almost all the birds, animals, reptiles and insects in Africa, and has the shortest and largest human beings. There are highly educated and experienced wise men in Khartoum and Cairo, and semi-nomadic indigenous people in Sudan. Therefore, it is the highest level challenge to trace the whole process of the river and study people on both sides of the strait. "
Goddard and his two exploration partners, Frayche Andre David and Keane La Ponty, were only 26 years old when they arrived in the Burundian mountains at the source of the Nile. These three people don't look like an ideal working group. Goddard can only speak basic French, David can only speak "student English" and Ponty can only speak French. At the same time, Ponty is the only one who has ever driven an Eskimo kayak. "All government officials told us that it is impossible for three people to explore the entire 6,400-kilometer Nile on a small raft weighing only 27 kilograms." Goddard recalled, "but their opposition strengthened our confidence."
The risk is self-evident. During this journey, they were attacked by hippos, fought against malaria, fought against wild desert winds, crossed many dangerous turbulent rapids, and were chased by a gangster with a rifle. But 10 months later, these three "nilot" (as they call themselves) successfully crossed the Nile estuary and entered the rippling Mediterranean Sea.
Goddard said: "I learned a lot during this trip, about myself, about the joy of success, about a stressful and fulfilling life." It gave me the motivation to pursue other goals. " If we had thought of all the risks and problems in advance, maybe we wouldn't have left the tent at all. But after hard work day after day, we finally achieved our goal. I think that's the way to approach life-to fill life with as many activities, knowledge, love and friendship as possible bit by bit. "
After exploring the Nile, Goddard soon achieved other goals: he drifted the whole Colorado River at 1954; 1956, he traveled the Congo River with a total length of 4,320 kilometers, and lived in the wilderness of South America, Borneo and New Guinea with people who cut off the enemy's heads as trophies and cannibals. Climb Mount Ararat and Mount Kilimanjaro; Fly a jet fighter at twice the speed of sound; Wrote a book (floating on the Nile); Married with five children. After becoming a professional anthropologist, he also started his career as a film producer and speaker, raising money for his exploration through speeches and filming.
Now, Goddard, 59, has scored 127. As an explorer, he won many honors, including being accepted as a member of the Royal Geographical Society and the new york Adventure Club. Many people called him to express their condolences and congratulations.
In the process of pursuing his goal, Goddard himself had 18 close contact. "These experiences have made me love life more and cherish all possibilities," he said. "People often end their lives before they know how to express great courage, strength and tenacity. But I found that when you thought you were going to die, you suddenly found an undiscovered source of strength. When you release it, it's like sublimating your soul. "
Like everyone else, he has goals and dreams, but not everyone will achieve them. He said: "My list of life as a teenager reflects a teenager's interests. Although there are some things I can never do-such as climbing Mount Everest and playing a strong and flexible man. However, setting goals is often like this. Some things may be beyond your ability, but that doesn't mean you have to give up the whole dream. "
Goddard doesn't feel obligated to complete every plan on the list. He said: "This is just a guide. It doesn't control my life. " It still strives to achieve a goal every year, constantly increasing its own goals and challenges.
Goddard still has many plans for the future, including visiting the Great Wall in Wan Li, China (the 49th goal) and climbing Mount Majinli (the 23rd goal). He is not relaxed about all his goals. In that case, when the opportunity is before me, I can start at once. Deep down, he firmly believes that one day he can even achieve the goal of 125: visiting the moon.
Real life should be a feast with both nutritional and artistic values. To do this feast well, we must have a clear "menu" to make all kinds of materials match best. Without a menu, various materials cannot be effectively combined and utilized. With it, we can leisurely cook a "feast" of life and give you enough nutrition earlier!
Revelation:
The list of life goals is not only to arrange what we do first, but more importantly, it enables us to establish a spiritual ideal and life pursuit.