As I was eating my Reese’s Puffs cereal (my favorite cereal…although first I eat my Kashi Heart to Heart cereal for my health and then I eat a little bit of my favorite peanut butter and chocolate flavored cereal…this cereal makes a really good lowfat snack too) this morning I started to read the back of the cereal box…I was intrigued by the title…especially when I read, “Do you like a challenge?“…of course this 50 year old likes a challenge…that’s what is great about being 50…I’m ready to take on a new challenge…and I don’t care if I can’t do it…if I fail it is okay…and if I succeed at the challenge, all the better.

So what were these challenges…I had to read on…there were 18 Challenges…”18 Things To Do Before You’re 18″…I had to find out what the 18 Challenges were all about…yes, I wanted to see if I had accomplished these challenges now that I was 50…surely, I must have done all 18 I thought…and if not, now that I was 50, it was time to try. Let’s see:

01. Ride the world’s biggest rollercoaster…dare to keep your eyes open and hands in the air for the whole ride (Nope, I never rode the world’s biggest rollercoaster…not at 18 or at 50 or anytime in between…I don’t like rollercoasters…and I definitely cannot dare to keep my eyes open on a rollercoaster…in fact, I remember when I had to ride a rollercoaster when I went to DisneyWorld one year because my son wanted to go on the rollercoaster and he was too young to go by himself…yes, I remember it well, I kept my eyes closed the entire ride.)

02. Bungee jump! (Nope, I never went bungee jumping…not at 18 or at 50 or anytime in between…another challenge has passed me by and I don’t think I will ever accomplish this challenge…no, not before I was 18 and definitely not at 50+.)

03. Score the winning goal/basket (Nope, I never scored the winning goal or basket…or any winning point in sports…I’m just not that good at basketball, tennis, or any other sport…not at 18 or at 50 or anytime in between…I think this Reese’s Challenge is a real challenge for me.)

04. Win an award, trophy or prize (Yeah, I did it…yes, this year I won a really nice award for my leadership skills at work…and I got a really beautiful Tiffany trophy…yep, I did it…finally I did meet one of the Reese’s Challenges, hallelujah!)

05. Learn an instrument (Nope, I tried during my first 18 years…I tried to learn how to play the violin…but I wasn’t too good…and I tried to learn how to play the guitar…but I wasn’t that good at this instrument…wonder if I should try again in my 50+ years…not sure what instrument I’d want to play…maybe the piano.)

06. Go backstage at a gig (Hmm, I never did this one…nope, here goes another challenge down the drain…maybe if I get to see Madonna this year…since she is turning 50 and I’m 50…maybe she will let me backstage — not that I was successful getting the tickets for her concert…speaking of challenges…I went on Ticketmaster right after the tickets went on sale on Monday and they were all sold out.)

07. Meet your idol (Yep, I did meet a celebrity…well I sort of met my idol…I went to see Richard Gere in person this past November at the Marion Anderson Awards at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia…does that count…he is my idol and I saw him in person.)

08. Play a part in your favorite tv show (I’ve never done this…nope…but my favorite tv show is The Office…and I really don’t think I have to play this part…I work in an office and oftentimes I do feel like I’m a character right out of the show.)

09. Meet someone with your own name (Nope…another challenge I have to try to accomplish in my 50+ years…I have a lot to work on.)

10. Make a discovery (Nope…I haven’t discovered anything…wow, these challenges are really tough for a 50 year old…sure wonder how today’s 18 year olds are coping with these challenges.)

11. Get away with the perfect practical joke (Let me see…did I ever do this by the time I was 18…nope…not this challenge either…I’m not very good at telling jokes.)

12. Own a pointless collection (I’m not really a collector…although I do have a few pitchers in my kitchen…and I have them on display…I guess I can count this challenge as accomplished.)

13. Invent a word that makes it into the dictionary (Ooh…this could be a fun challenge…I haven’t accomplished it yet…more to do for the second half of my life…let’s see, what word do I like…I think Ill try the word “humongous”…I don’t think that is a real word yet.)

14. Conquer your biggest fear (Yeah…I did conquer one of my biggest fears…I went and bought a beach house all by myself…that was scary…but I went and did it…yeah, another challenge for me…I did it…yeah…and I’m blogging tonight from my new beach house…and today I went to the beach…and sat in my new sand chair on the beach…it was great.)

15. Raise money for a charity…get some exercise by signing up for a charity road race (Yeah, I did this too, I walk in the Race for the Cure every Mother’s Day…and I used to run when I was 18…so I really accomplished this challenge…piece of cake.)

16. Pass your driving test the first time (Did it.)

17. Complete a road trip coast to coast (Did half of it…I actually chaperoned a teen tour when I graduated college and I drove around the van with the camping equipment from state to state…so I guess you could say I completed a road trip from the middle of the country to the west coast…maybe in my 50+ years I’ll have to drive the rest of Route 66.)

18. Reach 18 years of age…embrace old age (Are they kidding…”embrace old age” at 18…well, I did reach 18 years of age…and now I’m more than three times that age…but I’m not about to embrace old age…no…that’s for those 18 year olds…they can think they are old…not me…I’m 50 and fabulous…just like Samantha in the new “Sex and the City” movie.)

Wow, that was a real set of challenges…I think tomorrow I’ll just eat the cereal instead of reading the back of the box and trying to be 18 again…sure glad they didn’t list 50 Things To Do Before You’re 50!

Judi

Also, be sure to check out my recent post on the 50 Something Moms – A Flash of Midlife Madness blog: Tuxedo Man