“Going through the motions” doesn’t really sound like you at all. Despite the penchant for puns, you tend to actually think and engage your mind in everything you do; engaged seems like the opposite of going through the motions. Your daily play-by-play might be very similar, but the color commentary varies :<)

I made a “list of places to go before I die” when I was in my teens. (I’ve actually managed to turn over 6 of the original 10 items.) It pretty quickly became clear that the list would always be full, because there’s far more to see and do and enjoy than can fit into any lifetime. There are a lot of different conclusions to draw from that, but the one that I drew was that I should be making the most of the time I have. (In retrospect, I should have added “left” to that sentence; I would have been happier. Oh well.)

One of the things I love about Susan is that she treats each day as an adventure waiting to unfold. This is not something I did before – in fact, one of the reasons I’ve traditionally not enjoyed my birthday is that I look back on the year and wallow in how I didn’t use it well – and it doesn’t come easy for me, but she’s helping :<)

As for having a lifelong dream – I think if you can look back and see that you’ve had a mostly happy life, that’s fulfilling a truly life-long dream!