The Introduction

Internet is  a great place to be in , everyone today is a part of this world wide connection of computers. There is something  for everyone out here. But ever since its inception innernet has gained eyeballs for the wrong reason. Still a majority of people believe in the tagline " There is nothing like good thing in internet".  The hard core skeptic will say that " Internet is full of porn and nothing else" . There are many followers for the skeptics since the traffic statistics will show that majority of the internet users are entering vulgar sites and social networking sites. I don't know much about the future of social networking sites but porn sites are here to say. There is not much one can say about it.. Coz at some point or the other almost every one in our times would have adjusted the privacy bar in tools menu(If you are using IE).

To convince skeptics that there is more to internet than just porn and social networking. 

 A good story can touch our hearts like nothing else can. The inspirational story of John Goddard is one which you wont hear every day. His story is not a fake one by any stretch of imagination, and yes I found it in internet..

One rainy afternoon an inspired 15-year-old boy named John Goddard sat down at his kitchen table in Los Angeles and wrote three words at the top of a yellow pad, "My Life List." Under that heading he wrote down 127 goals. Since then he has completed 108 of those goals. Look at the list of Goddard's goals which appears below. These are not simple

or easy goals. They include climbing the world's major mountains,exploring vast waterways, running a mile in five minutes, reading the complete works of Shakespeare and reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.

Explore:

1. Nile River

2. Amazon River

3. Congo River

4. Colorado River

5. Yangtze River, China

6. Niger River

7. Orinoco River, Venezuela

8. Rio Coco, Nicaragua

Study Primitive Cultures In:

9. The Congo

10. New Guinea

11. Brazil

12. Borneo

13. The Sudan (John was nearly buried alive in a sandstorm.)

14. Australia

15. Kenya

16. The Philippines

17. Tanganyika (now Tanzania)

18. Ethiopia

19. Nigeria

20. Alaska

Climb:

21. Mount Everest

22. Mount Aconcagua, Argentina

23. Mount McKinley

24. Mount Huascaran, Peru

25. Mount Kilimanjaro

26. Mount Ararat, Turkey

27. Mount Kenya

28. Mount Cook, New Zealand

29. Mount Popocatepetl, Mexico

30. The Matterhorn

31. Mount Rainer

32. Mount Fuji

33. Mount Vesuvius

34. Mount Bromo, Java

35. Grand Tetons

36. Mount Baldy, California

37. Carry out careers in medicine and exploration (Studied premed and

treats illnesses among primitive tribes)

38. Visit every country in the world (30 to go)

39. Study Navaho and Hopi Indians

40. Learn to fly a plane

41. Ride horse in Rose Parade

Photograph:

42. Iguacu Falls, Brazil

43. Victoria Falls, Rhodesia (Chased by a warthog in the process)

44. Sutherland Falls, New Zealand

45. Yosemite Falls

46. Niagara Falls

47. Retrace travels of Marco Polo and Alexander the Great

Explore Underwater:

48. Coral reefs of Florida

49. Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Photographed a 300-pound clam)

50. Red Sea

51. Fiji Islands

52. The Bahamas

53. Explore Okefenokee Swamp and the Everglades

Visit:

54. North and South Poles

55. Great Wall of China

56. Panama and Suez Canals

57. Easter Island

58. The Galapagos Islands

59. Vatican City (Saw the pope)

60. The Taj Mahal

61. The Eiffel Tower

62. The Blue Grotto

63. The Tower of London

64. The Leaning Tower of Pisa

65. The Sacred Well of Chichen-Itza, Mexico

66. Climb Ayers Rock in Australia

67. Follow River Jordan from Sea of Galilee to Dead Sea

Swim In:

68. Lake Victoria

69. Lake Superior

70. Lake Tanganyika

71. Lake Titicaca, South America

72. Lake Nicaragua

Accomplish:

73. Become an Eagle Scout

74. Dive in a submarine

75. Land on and take off from an aircraft carrier

76. Fly in a blimp, hot air balloon and glider

77. Ride an elephant, camel, ostrich and bronco

78. Skin dive to 40 feet and hold breath two and a half minutes

underwater

79. Catch a ten-pound lobster and a ten-inch abalone

80. Play flute and violin

81. Type 50 words a minute

82. Take a parachute jump

83. Learn water and snow skiing

84. Go on a church mission

85. Follow the John Muir Trail

86. Study native medicines and bring back useful ones

87. Bag camera trophies of elephant, lion, rhino, cheetah, cape buffalo

and whale

88. Learn to fence

89. Learn jujitsu

90. Teach a college course

91. Watch a cremation ceremony in Bali

92. Explore depths of the sea

93. Appear in a Tarzan movie (He now considers this an irrelevant

boyhood dream)

94. Own a horse, chimpanzee, cheetah, ocelot and coyote (Yet to own a

chimp or cheetah)

95. Become a ham radio operator

96. Build own telescope

97. Write a book (On Nile trip)

98. Publish an article in National Geographic Magazine

99. High jump five feet

100. Broad jump 15 feet

101. Run a mile in five minutes

102. Weigh 175 pounds stripped (still does)

103. Perform 200 sit-ups and 20 pull-ups

104. Learn French, Spanish and Arabic

105. Study dragon lizards on Komodo Island (Boat broke down within

20 miles of island)

106. Visit birthplace of Grandfather Sorenson in Denmark

107. Visit birthplace of Grandfather Goddard in England

108. Ship aboard a freighter as a seaman

109. Read the entire Encyclopedia Britannia (Has read extensive parts

in each volume)

110. Read the Bible from cover to cover

111. Read the works of Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Dickens, Thoreau,

Poe, Rousseau, Bacon, Hemingway, Twain, Burroughs, Conrad,

Talmage, Tolstoi, Longfellow, Keats, Whittier and Emerson (Not every

work of each)

112. Become familiar with the compositions of Bach, Beethoven,

Debussy, Ibert, Mendelssohn, Lalo, Rimski-Korsakov, Respighi, Liszt,

Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Toch, Tschaikovsky, Verdi

113. Become proficient in the use of a plane, motorcycle, tractor,

surfboard, rifle, pistol, canoe, microscope, football basketball, bow and

arrow, lariat and boomerang

114. Compose music

115. Play Clair de Lune on the piano

116. Watch fire-walking ceremony (In Bali and Surinam)

117. Milk a poisonous snake (Bitten by a diamond back during a photo

session)

118. Light a match with a 22 rifle

119. Visit a movie studio

120. Climb Cheops' pyramid

121. Become a member of the Explorers' Club and the Adventurers'

Club

122. Learn to play polo

123. Travel through the Grand Canyon on foot and by boat

124. Circumnavigate the globe (four times)

125. Visit the moon ("Some day if God wills")

126. Marry and have children (Has five children)

127. Live to see the 21st Century (He became  75 in 2000).

The Analysis

It may seem like a fairy tale, a story that has been cooked up by some one but let me assure you that all the facts mentioned above are true. If you are still in doubt google "John Goddard" you will soon understand  the iconic character he is. Is John Goddard a super human? Is he mutated by some spiders? Does he come from planet Krypton? The answer is No, he is a normal human being just like all of us. Then what makes him apart from the rest? What makes him stand out? How did he achieved all this feat ? Some says he is a natural genius.. Some one who was destined for this.. For their information Thomas alva Edison said once "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration".. There is no doubt in my mind that John was a genius.. But we can't say that it was all dumb luck and pure destiny. All the feats he achieved were due to constant hardwork and years of practice. 

The Conclusion

I don't wish to give elaborated insights into John Goddard's life and make my blog appear as an extended version of any self help book you may find in the stand. It is up to you to take something out of this man's life. We may all live our life without knowing where we are going or we could live our life for a cause for fulfilling our goals. The choice is ours………………………………….

The Reference

You may check the following links to know more about John goddard

 That's all folks........

With love

Krishna Sangeeth K.S