Step 44: Take a Class

Wha??? Take a class? After spending 16+ years in the school system? I know, it sounds crazy, but there are benefits to continuing your education.

Now, I'm not saying you have to take a whole semester long class at some fancy university. The class I'm taking meets every Tuesday for four weeks and is offered by the Indiana Writers Center. It's all about how to write young adult novels, so it's helping me hone my skills, which is the most important reason to take any class. Also, I'm meeting a lot of people who have similar interests to me, and I'm being taught by a local author, so I'm making some great contacts.

And, surprisingly, it's fun to be back in the classroom. :) Probably because this is a class I actually want to be taking instead of something I was forced to, but also because it's fun to learn something new and try it out later on your own.

So, my question to you: If you could take a class over anything, what would it be?
And my challenge to you: Sign up for a class. Find an organization that you're interested in and see if they offer anything. Even your local library can have some interesting classes. Mine once offered a class over searching your family lineage!

Step 43: Be Single for Valentine's Day

Sorry to all my friends with significant others, but this year I've gotta help all my single buddies out there! There's loads of things for the unattached woman or man to do this holiday:

• Go to Howl at the Moon's Love Sux Party at 5 pm tonight
• Go to Smiley's Wheel of Men at the Vogue in Broad Ripple tonight from 8-10.
• Race in the Single's Dash tomorrow morning at 9 am.
• Go see The Vagina Monologues, or some other performance that promotes women's rights.
• Girls, go see a romantic movie that you could never drag your boyfriend to.
• Guys, go to a strip club that you could never drag your girlfriend to.
• Go to a bar or club with a group of your friends.
• Give your parents a Valentine's gift.
• Play a Valentine's Day drinking game.
• Girls, buy your own box of chocolate because you can probably pick out something better than your boyfriend can.
• Guys, buy your own box of chocolates because we all know you can eat a whole box just as well (if not better) than us girls.
• Go to the zoo. What? Animals are cute.
• Stick pins in a voodoo doll representing your ex.
• Bake cookies.
• Girls, go get a mani-peid-facial-massage.
• Guys, go get a mani-pedi-facial-massage. Trust us, they feel WONDERFUL!
• Volunteer and/or do something nice for someone else.
• Go to Build-a-Bear and make your own Valentine's Day Bear.
• Do finger painting.

So my question to you: What are some other fun things for single people to do on Valentine's Day/Valentine's Day Weekend?
And my challenge to you: Try not to be too bummed if you're single this year. I know sometimes you just want to have someone, but there are all kinds of perks to being single. And eventually, you will find someone. Heck, you may be lucky enough to find 24 cats! :3

Step 42: Shoot a Gun

Look, I might survive... maybe, five minutes in the Zombie Apocalypse! :)

Ok, ignoring all the political and criminal issues that come up when talking about guns, I still say that everyone should shoot a gun at least once in their life (preferably in the structured safety of a shooting range). It's not as easy as the cops on tv make it look (at least, not your first go at it--you should have seen my experienced friend's target, it was much more torn up than mine). The noise is nerve wracking, the kickback is a little jolting, and it's hard to tell if you've actually hit your target when it's a piece of paper that doesn't go down screaming in pain.

But there may come a day when you need to shoot something, and you should know what to expect when you pull that trigger. And, in all honesty, once you get past the initial shock, it's kind of exhilarating. Not that I'll ever do more than shoot in a range or at laser tag! But it'd definitely be up for trying it again sometime. It's a good way to hone my zombie-slaying skills. :)

So, my question to you: Have you ever shot a gun, and if so, what did you think?
And my challenge to you: For Valentine's Day, go play laser tag, either with your significant other or a group of your single buddies. Bet ya didn't see that challenge coming!

Step 41: Hug a Spiritual Leader

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, my sister's a Buddhist teacher at the Dromtonpa Kadampa Meditation Center in Indianapolis, and though I don't consider myself Buddhist, I believe in a lot of the ideas that they teach and enjoy supporting my sister by going to an occasional class or special event. The latest event I attended was a particularly special one, as the Spiritual Director for the entire United States, Gen Kelsang Jampa, joined us for the evening and gave a teaching over the idea that you don't have to be Buddhist to take their lessons and apply them to your everyday life and become a more peaceful, happy person.

From the very first moment that you meet Gen Jampa, you can feel his happiness flow out of him and into you. Because he's doing what he truly loves and spreading the messages of Buddha, he seems very comfortable in his life and in his role as a leader, and being able to see someone so comfortable in a world that sometimes can seem so hard is very reassuring. If he can reach happiness, then maybe I can too.

I feel like most spiritual leaders will have this comfort in their lives (not tying myself strongly to any one religion and never really having met any spiritual leader besides Gen Jampa, I can't say for sure, but if you can believe so strongly in something that you can go out and preach that belief, I'm assuming that you've got to be pretty confident about the path that you've chosen). That comfort and confidence and happiness has a way of giving you hope as you chat with someone that devoted, so I really feel like everyone could benefit from meeting some sort of spiritual leader (even if you don't consider yourself religious).

So my challenge to you: Strike up a conversation with a preacher or a rabbi or a monk or an imam or a nun. They're actually more relateable to you than you think, and they've got some great advice.
And my question to you: Did you notice I reversed my challenge and question? ;) No, my question is, what's a spiritual moment that you had that made a difference in your life?