I turned 49 yesterday (FedEx is running behind, what with the holidays and all, so your gift is probably on today’s truck… yay!) and I’ve proactively decided this will be the most astonishingly alive year I’ve been around so far.

Most people celebrate the smithereens out of 50, but not over here. I’m getting a jump on the half-century milestone, and I’m here to convince you to pre-celebrate the biggies in your life, too.

You: “That’s weird.”

Me: “Noted. But can I tell you why I’m doing this?”

You: *silent look of indifference*

Me: “Okay great! Here’s the scoop.”

Why I’m Weirdly Celebrating 50 a Year Early

It’s all about memento mori—the Latin phrase that means “remember we must die.” It reminds me not just that I might not make it to 50 (fingers crossed folks), but that life is finite and therefore absurdly precious. Odds are strong that I will live another 364 days to blow out 50 candles, so I’m not pre-celebrating out of fear… it’s about recognizing that life is a “limited time only” situation and worth savoring. Pre-savoring.

I don’t want to take it for granted that I’ll make it to 50. As annoying humans we have to override our tendency to take every good thing for granted… because we do that, don’t we? We assume we’ll make it to the next birthday with a zero, we assume we’ll see the kids graduate, we assume we’ll make it to retirement, we assume we’ll do that African Safari. We’re brazen with this gift called life.

“What are you waiting for?” is a question I ask every audience I present to (in an oh-so-encouraging tone with just enough of a sharp edge to create that right amount of discomfort). We defer our dreams. We delay our goals. We put our hopes on hold. We plan to live “when things are less busy.” We postpone our existence. We rationally know we’re going to run out of time someday, but we do a bang-up job of thinking we’ll fit all the good living in, later. Isn’t it (almost) funny how dumb we are?

How Does One Weirdly Celebrate a Pre-Milestone?

To be clear, this isn’t about having a 50^th birthday party for myself a year early. I’m not the party type (I am a total party pooper), so it has nothing to do with having attention lavished upon me (and all those FedEx-delivered gifts!). This is about creating a memorable, meaningful, breathtakingly alive year-long experience.

I told you before about how I made the year I turned 33 intentionally epic, and all I can say is that The Year of 49 is going to make that year seem like child’s play.

I printed out a page with 49 spots to fill out that will characterize this year of aliveness. Some of the things I will pre-populate with things I know I want to do/ experience/ eat, like Go For a Long Weekend in Europe Somewhere/Any-Freaking-Where… Make a Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Once and For All… and Help Dad Move Into a Fabulous Advanced Care Facility (*insert nervous laughter*). Some things will have to be recorded after the fact—spontaneous things that emerge from living with intention. I still look back on the list I made for the Year of 33 with pride; I lived like I had something to lose.

The theme for 49 will be “Astonishingly Alive” (or maybe Cream Cheese Frosting; we’ll see how the carrot cake turns out) and I’ll likely cover the bases in the following domains of life:

Hobbies (maybe I’ll read 49 books this year?! OMG now I need recommendations. Please reach out with ideas. AND YES READING IS A HOBBY [says every author and bookworm everywhere].)
Travel (maybe I’ll go on 49 trips?! And then file for bankruptcy.)
Friends + family (maybe I’ll actually initiate the visits I keep saying “one day soon!” about?)
Food (49 interesting new restaurants/ meals/ taco joints?)
Wine (maybe a bottle from the year I was born, like I did when I was 33?)
Love (49 exciting new dates with The Husband… 1/3 of them at dive bars!)
Learning (that sommelier course would be a right time to start in The Year of 49.)
Health (oh yeah, that. I will go to the gym at least 49 times and move for at least 49 minutes every day. Maybe I’ll learn pickleball like the rest of the human race? Jury’s still out on that.)
Career (I’ll set a goal to deliver 49 of my “Count Your Mondays” keynotes/ workshops. Whoo!)
Movies (maybe I’ll watch 49 documentaries? And stay awake for many of them?)
Spirituality (I could get back to meditating, 49 times? Check in with me by March. Unlikely.)
Money (it’s going to be hard to save money in a year that begs for spectacular splurges, so I’ll need to think about this one. Maybe I give money/ a gift card away in an anonymous random act of kindness? Yes, it’s settled! Let’s collude to surprise someone with a meaningful, unexpected gift.)
Other? (So many TBDs…)

A smart friend pointed out, after I shared my Year of 49 plan with her, that it averaged out to doing about one cool thing per week. (I’m mildly embarrassed I didn’t do that calculation sooner myself.) On one hand that seems manageable and on the other it’s exhausting. I’ll need to make sure The Year of 49 doesn’t kill me.

What are ways you can fast-forward celebrations and joys in your life?

Turning a “significant” age soon? Make the year before just as epic.
Been with your partner for 13 years? Make a big deal of your upcoming 14^th anniversary, rather than waiting for 15. (The Husband and I just celebrated our 9,999^th day of being together. Some people wondered why we didn’t celebrate 10K days, which normal people would have done, but no. Fun and enjoyment must make the early train! Sneak celebration in early!)
Jump the gun on your next work anniversary, or any other key date that matters to you.
And don’t even get me started on the whole “living funeral” idea, which is a great way to celebrate your pre-coffin life.

Life is fabulous and fleeting. We need to make up reasons to celebrate, or we run the risk of the next year/ month/ week/ any random Tuesday will just be unremarkable and pass us by. That’s what it’s about, right? Making things remarkable?

So I’m off to make The Year of 49 astonishingly alive, and I will also make sure 50 isn’t too shabby (assuming I make it). What’re you going to do to make this year memorable and alive?