Life is a journey and the choices you make ultimately determine the outcome. However everyone has a different starting place, different obstacles to overcome and different choices to make. Sometimes those choices can be very limited but that is a topic for a different article.
One thing is certain.
In life oftentimes there are choices to be made which could lead to unknown and scary paths.
Then again, sometimes people want to make scary choices to have fun. Some people want to do things like:
Those are again scary things to do!
It is almost always a choice do to the scary thing with the alternate choice being to play it safe. I could go skydiving or I could stay home and read a book. Choice is mine.
Now everyone knows what routine is. It is the thing you do day after day after day. Boring, safe, and familiar.
But how do you define adventure? Honestly that took me a moment or two of thinking. Sure I can imagine adventure but can I define it?
The roots of the word are "Ad" (toward) and "Venire" (to come). From its roots it means "coming towards" or "about to happen". I actually like that definition. Adventure is simply the things that are coming towards you in life. They are unknown, interesting, possibly exciting and possibly scary. That's just how life is.
But the meaning of the word has changed over time. Now it typically is thought of as an endeavor which is:
If you use that definition there are a limited number of adventures in one's lifetime. Something new today will be familiar tomorrow.
When thinking of Adventure to Routine I have to think about my father. When he was 22 years old he was working in a dry cleaning shop in a large city. He was adventurous and craved doing something exciting. What did he do? He took his young wife and 2yr old son and moved to ranch far from home. He wanted to be a cowboy. Ride horses. Raise cows. Live off the land and having an exciting adventure!
He did that and for almost 40 years he was in charge of acreage. At one point 640 acres, raising horses, cows, pigs, llama, dogs, cats, rabbits and so many other things. He followed adventure...
...But shortly before his death he recorded some words to me while he was travelling from the remote village he lived in to the hospital in the city. He travelled through the Fraser Canyon which was his road to adventure when he was young and recalled all the times he has been through it during his life. He remarked how it would be his last time through "Jackass Pass". His last time at his favorite diner (Smitty's). His last time on the ranch that had become home.
His Adventure had become familiar. His Adventure had become routine. Time was up.
In the same way I've had many Adventures. My time at University. My journey to a new career and new job. My time being a new husband and new father. My first trip to the racetrack. My first trip to a foreign country. My first cruise. So many awesome adventures. However, now I've done them many times and for many years. Those adventures are done and fewer and fewer new ones remain.
Many people think that an Adventure is an expensive trip or paying money to go on a "once in a lifetime" excursion.
I'm going to say that Adventure is making the scary choice to explore something new.
In the near future I'm going to retire. I've worked all my life since I was 10 years old so that's certainly going to be a scary change. I'm going to leave the home I've lived in for the past 20 years in the city (200,000 people) to work on acreage 1400km away in a remote area with 150 people. I'm facing old age and uncertainty.
Guess what? That's scary!
... But it's New
... It's Exciting
... It's Challenging
... and yes, the outcome is Uncertain
In short, another Adventure in life is ....as the word implies... "about to happen"
If I had to liken adventures in my life it would be like chapters in a story. Every adventure is another chapter in my life. Much of my life has been written and I've had many adventures. I'm happy that my book isn't finished yet. I still have a few chapters left to be written. I hope I can make them interesting ones. Until the final period is put in the book and the final true adventure starts.
Thanks for reading
As always I love getting responses and comments.
