Adventure-an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity.

Adventure is a word most distance themselves from as they get older. On the surface, it sounds nice, but with all adventures, there is an element of uncomfortable challenge that one tends to avoid if they can. It is the attitude of not wanting to sleep in a tent in the wilderness when there is a perfect hotel not far up the road.  The adventure is disregarded for the promise of comfort and ease. I urge you to put aside the desire for comfort and ease and look for adventure in life. In moments of excitement and doing something difficult, you find out exactly who you are and what you are made of.  A night in a tent will make a much more interesting story than a night in a hotel sleeping comfortably.  Many experiences in life can be seen as an adventure if you train your focus on your thoughts, words, and actions.   

Escape the Ordinary

We work hard to establish an ordinary existence where there is little risk in what we face every day.  It makes sense, and certainty brings confidence and illusion of control.  But we always must remember it is only an illusion.  Eventually, life is going to test you. Ordinary is not much of a training ground for this.  It doesn’t mean that you should abandon all comfort, but you shouldn’t hide from the uncomfortable either.

Think of the moments of your youth that you treasure the most. Were they the ones where you were comfortable without challenge?  Or were they spent doing something adventurous and allowed for growth and understanding of life? Weren’t the best challenges, adventures in proving someone else wrong? Thinking about the venture and putting the ordinary aside for a time allows fou to grow and become a deeper soul and better person.

Experiences over Things

The adventure will allow you to collect the most valuable of possessions, experience.  People tend to focus on the things they can own. A home and the junk you can fill it with are all nice, but they are just things. What we own does not define who we are. Possessions are just a collection of stuff, and it makes your life like a museum. Each piece has a perceived value to you, but in reality, those things do not make you a better person and help you grow. They are nice, but an adventure will supply you with an experience and a story to tell about that adventure.

So instead of working to buy something for its status, pay attention to the chance that every day brings to have an adventure.  This doesn’t mean you have to climb a mountain or go skydiving, although you could.  It just means that there will be some things out of the ordinary that you can try.  Each person has a different level of adventure in them. For some, trying a new restaurant is about as adventurous as it is going to get. For others, the sky is the limit.  It is the conscious thought and intent behind the action that counts. Try it for the experience. If you hate the experience, don’t do it again. Always look to add to your bank of experience. It will build wisdom and understanding.

And So the Adventure Begins

Each day is an opportunity to begin almost anything, and a new adventure is definitely an endeavor worth your time.  Be open to trying new things, maybe a little out of your comfort zone.  Push yourself just a little and see how far down the road it will take you.  It is one of the best ways to learn the lessons that life has to teach you.   One of my favorite stories has always been The Hobbit because it took a character out of their comfort zone and showed how great they could be.  Bilbo Baggins believed, “We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!”   Yet it was in the adventure that he gained everything.  This could happen to you in your own experience.

It will begin by taking a moment to change your focus from fear to a willingness to try something new.  It begins with our thoughts, words, and actions.  See where your adventurous spirit can take you today.

Adventure Quotes

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Hellen Keller

“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”  -Ernest Hemingway

“Adventure is worthwhile.” Aesop

“‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” J.R.R. Tolkien

“Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure.”  -Irving Wallace.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by.”  -Robert Frost.