501 natural wonders

I have a lovely book called “501 must visit natural wonders” – I think Maggie bought it for me at Christmas 2008. Since then loads of 1001 ‘must visits before you die’ have appeared as well as 501 must reads, films, cars, restaurants, pretty much anything you care to mention. I also have that collecting gene – so I collect sets and series, I like to do everyone whether it’s mountain peaks, or working my way through cheese or a menu. There are more technical terms, which describe people like me, but obsessive is among the more acceptable from where I’m sitting.

Now, I love travel, but I’d be wise to admit defeat up front – to actually ‘collect’ all 501 around this wonderful planet would take far more time and money than I’m ever likely to have. Even if I had ample amounts of both, it would take a fair feat of human endurance and planning. If I was starting from scratch (which thankfully I’m not!) and I’ve got a reasonable expectation of 25 more travelling years ahead of me (assuming I maintain our typical ‘let’s go somewhere different this year approach to holidaying’) I’d still need to knock off 20 sights a year. Maybe David Attenborough’s done it, but I doubt very much if the compilers have.

So what? Life is too short to do even do everything I’d like to. Most weeks are typically too short to achieve all I set out to. Frankly, even the lists I might write at the beginning of a day are more frequently left unfinished than completed. So, how did Jesus do so much? Now, this is where it gets seriously challenging because he didn’t, did he (?) - not if doing is measured in events, distance covered, people won over. Of course, Jesus did actually do more than any other human being, however, if doing is measured in focus, legacy, mission, etc. So, what am I going to set out to do this year?