My journey from the corn fields and cow pies of Minnesota to a lifetime of work, travel and adventure across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas, fulfilled a childhood dream.

For many, life just seems to "happen". The dreams and aspirations of youth get buried beneath decades of routine, predictability and boredom. Determined that this not become my fate, I viewed life as being only seven days long. Each day of the week represented a decade of life, and I packed each one with as many unique experiences and adventures as possible.

Looking at life as if it were only one week, powered the pursuit of dreams, was an antidote for procrastination, and a steadfast reminder that time is finite. It also served as a high-powered zoom lens magnifying the value and importance of each event, each interaction, and of how quickly a week, and life, passes.

Seventy-Five Years in Seven Days has nothing to do with eating nuts, drinking green tea, vegetable smoothies, meditation, or mindfulness. It's about living one's dream and creating one's own Neflix-like list of adventures, dramas, mysteries, thrillers, and romance stories.

Don Bergman, Ed.D.