Breaking the Habit.

It is no secret that for quite some time now (sadly, for much longer than I would care to admit), I have been stuck in a rut. Over the past several years, I have watched myself become less and less of the bright, vibrant person of my youth, and while all along I have lamented this fact, I have failed to do anything to turn things around.

After stumbling upon Suz's Bookshelf Blog and reading a book she reviewed there, The Next thing on My List by Jill Smolinski, and reading Suz's own life list, I was inspired to create a life list of my own in the hope that it would help me break out of my rut. I decided to make a list of thirty things I want to do before I turn thirty, which is in less than two years. (Yikes!) The following is my list.

My 30 Before 30 List

1. Try snowboarding.
2. Join a recreational sports team.
3. Go see a movie at the movie theater by myself.
4. Eat at a restaurant by myself.
5. Write in a journal every day for a month.
6. Find a cause I am passionate about and get involved.
7. Educate myself about politics so I can intelligently and effectively defend my political beliefs.
8. Volunteer at Agape Therapeutic Riding Center.
9. Learn to ice skate (more specifically, learn to stop without running into the wall of the ice rink).
10. Buy 1500 thread count Egyptian cotton bed sheets.
11. Dress up for Halloween (as an adult, Halloween is my least favorite holiday, so I have not dressed up for Halloween since I was a child).
    
12. Learn to drive a stick shift.
    
13. Be able to run two miles without stopping.
14. Travel somewhere I have never been.
15. Visit my maternal grandmother's grave in Evansville, Indiana (the only time I have been to my grandmother's grave was at her funeral, so I have not seen her headstone).
16. Take the GRE and decide whether or not to apply for graduate school.
17. Learn basic German.
18. Attend the 2010 NCAA Men's Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
    
19. Have a cookie-baking weekend.
    
20. Spend an entire day (24 hours) with my cell phone turned off.
21. Get dressed up and go out for a fancy dinner.
22. Go on a carriage ride in downtown Indianapolis. (For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to go on one of these carriage rides, and I have always said the first man to take me on one was the man I was going to marry. Seeing as how I am nearing thirty and I have never been married, I figured it was time to take destiny into my own hands.)
23. Tour the Scottish Rite Cathedral in downtown Indianapolis.
24. Donate blood.
25. Take ballroom dancing lessons or swing dancing lessons.
26. Learn to bake madeleines.
    
27. Hold a conversation with a stranger.
28. Attend the Circle of Lights Festival in Indianapolis.
    
29. Mail out Christmas cards in time for the cards to arrive BEFORE Christmas. (Every year I buy Christmas cards, and every year the cards never get mailed out. I have quite a vast collection of Christmas cards, and cards for every other holiday for that matter, in my greeting card box.)
30. Make a new friend (one not connected to someone I already know).

I tried to create a list consisting of a variety of items, including ones that would be fairly easy to complete, as well as several that will push me beyond my comfort zone. While my original intention was to only include items that are within my control, I did let one creep in that is not entirely so - number 18. While I have every intention of attending the 2010 NCAA Men's Frozen Four, it is not simply a matter of purchasing tickets, reserving a hotel room, and driving to Detroit, MI. Tickets are only available through an application process, and are awarded through a lottery system. If you have purchased Frozen Four tickets before, your application is given priority, but a certain number of tickets are set aside for those who are attempting to purchase tickets for the first time. So, you see, as someone who has not previously purchased Frozen Four tickets, I am going to be relying heavily on luck to score tickets (which, historically, my luck tends to be very, very bad). Either that, or I have to hope I have enough money to purchase tickets at an outrageously inflated price from one of the individuals who is lucky enough to be selected through the lottery system and decides to sell their tickets, for whatever reason. (I think I better start saving now, just to be safe.)

The bottom line is at 28-years-old, I feel like I have wasted my life thus far. I am extremely unhappy a majority of the time, I still have a great deal to learn about who I am as a person, and I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. This list is about rediscovering happiness, learning as much as possible about myself and life, and hopefully discovering my life's purpose (or at least what would make me feel like my life is meaningful and worthwhile, and that I am having a positive impact on the world).

If you would like to keep up with the progress I am making on my list, I have dedicated a separate blog to the endeavor, What Is On My List.