Age 25 is gross

Mom (translated from Korean): My kids are turning 25 and 27 this year?! 24 and 26 are OK, but 25... that's gross (징그러)!

When I was a young warthog, I came up with a list of 9 things I wanted to do before I turned 25. Last year, I did a one-year-to-go check in. Time is up, let's see where I landed:

1. Visit Thailand -- FAIL, but not for lack of trying
2. Learn Spanish -- FAIL... for lack of trying
3. Do something, anything! in microfinance or non-profit -- FAIL, I'm a corporate sell-out. But I did start sharetocaresf.org with Helen, which was completely unexpected.
4. Fully and regularly donate 10% of my net income  -- SUCCESS, I don't think it's quite 10%, but it's pretty close
5. Take the GMAT -- FAIL, I think grad school may be out of the picture
6. Be a size 4 again -- FAIL, but at least I didn't go up a size!
7. Commit to a church that I love  -- SUCCESS, City Church SF
8. Live in a different city -- SUCCESS, NYC is my 2nd city
9. Go to the gyno. Not because I want to but because I should.  -- SUCCESS.

Dang, 4 for 9, those are some bad stats. Looking at what I accomplished, they seem to be the foundational things. Thailand, Spanish, MF, and GMAT aren't things that influence my day-to-day. (Except for the size 4 thing -- I need to get my lazy bum to the gym more!) Honestly, I'm surprised. I thought your early 20s were the time for doing wily things. Well, I guess I'll flip it. Early 20s -- ground myself. Late 20s -- go nuts!

Stay tuned for The List: Age 30.

Lent

Ash Wednesday, Lent, Good Friday, Easter Sunday.

For most of my life, these events didn't mean much to me. The church I grew up in didn't celebrate the first two, and the latter was always associated with coloring and finding Easter eggs.

But in the last few years, these four events have held great importance. No, nothing traumatic happened -- actually, the opposite. Life slowed down after college, and with it, my spiritual life. Small habits like journaling, prayer, and reading went to the back burner. I found myself living life and playing, but never finding enough time in the day to get back to those habits.

But when something is important to you, you make time for it. At least, that what I keep telling myself. So for Lent 2012, I am giving up my time.

In the words of Chuck D (pastor at my church):
"As people addicted to comfort and convenience, we're often unaware of how we live to feel good about ourselves, to gain a bit of affirmation, to exert influence, to maximize our own pleasure, to satisfy our immediate needs. Lent invites us to intentionally frustrate ourselves, to engage in a season of deprivation, which actually makes us more aware of the depth of our dependence on any number of things – a substance, our reputation, control, achievement, being right, being comfortable, being secure.

Lent is NOT a behavior modification program. It's not about going off chocolate or caffeine or alcohol. It's about frustrating what Thomas Merton calls our "false self," our illusory self, the part of us addicted to living the lie, a life of hiding."

I spend nearly 3 hours a day sitting on my butt in a moving vehicle. My evenings are often spent finishing work, catching up on my social life, and scouring deal sites and real estate listings. I can give that up for 40 days to get out of my "Live Life" mentality and become uncomfortable being comfortable.

To all you out there observing Lent, I hope that you find yourselves challenged, frustrated, and in the end, closer to God.