NOT LONG ago, a friend of mine impressed a bunch of us by signing up to run in a marathon.

Though she'd been a regular jogger, going several miles in a pop, she'd never approached anything like the 26.2 miles a marathon would require.

When we chatted about this new challenge, she off-handedly mentioned how thrilled she'd be to cross one more lifetime goal off her list.

As someone who never makes lists, even about weekly or daily goals, my ears perked up.

I asked her: "You don't really have a formal, written-out list of those things, do you?"

Sure enough, she did. In fact, more than a dozen things, such as running a marathon and visiting beautiful spots around the world.

Though I'm not an organized person, the notion of making a list of lifetime goals seemed a smart one.

After all, how easy is it to let work, family and other responsibilities put off that trip, challenge or that experience we daydream about?

Too easy. Making a list might actually spur us all on, taking the adventure or goal out of our daydreams and putting it down on paper as something we could start planning.

To that end, I'm challenging all you readers to make a list of the things you'd like to achieve in your lifetimes.

They can be amazing things: hang gliding off a tall mountain, bungee jumping off a high bridge, riding a bike from here to Sacramento.

They can be smaller things: learning to fly a plane, cook a gourmet dish or build a canoe.

And they can be personal things: reconcile with a child or a sibling, hold a reunion for long-lost relatives or write a note to a parent or child telling them how much they mean to you.

Likewise, your list can either be a collection of things you'd like to do, or of big life goals you've already done.

In other words, you can either send me a Life Goals To Do list, or Life Goals Already Done, or a mixture of the two.