To paraphrase Thornton Wilder, an adventure is when you'd rather be at home. By extension, an adventurer is one who would, most of the time, rather be at home.
The fact is, you aren't having an adventure until things really suck. When everything is going to plan, you're just having a pleasant experience. It's not an adventure until you start wondering if maybe, just maybe, you'd made a poor decision. If you're cold (or hot), wet, and somewhat freaked out, you're probably having an honest-to-God adventure.
This is the perfect time to embrace the experience.
Cold (or hot), wet, and somewhat freaked out is the natural state of an adventurer. Bored and comfortable is, in my always humble opinion, a sign that something has gone terribly wrong. Bored and comfortable is for cats. Real life is neither boring, nor comfortable.
But real life, and I mean real life, not the drudgery the dull little people who tell you to be realistic are talking about, requires a willingness to take responsibility for one's own existence. When life is a drag, you can be boring and comfortable and complain about it to your boring comfortable friends, or you can take charge and tumble head first into some kind of awful, exciting, uncomfortable adventure. Why not say, "to Hell with comfort"?
Being uncomfortable on a regular basis is important. Extended comfort is unnatural, and excessively dull. And besides, a dry, cozy place is most comfortable after you've been subjected to a lot of discomfort.
You can be cold (or hot), wet and somewhat freaked out, and still love every minute of it.
5 comments:
Great blog, and very well put! Couldnt have said it better myself.
I willingly rode around Phoenix with you in your Mustang. Does that count as an adventure?
By the way, that was actually a high point of my year. So kind of you.
Whenever things suck or whenever problems occur, that is actually an adventure because it is the spice of life. It is what makes life exciting! And after that adventure, you'll have the greatest lesson of your life.
Raftnn - Thanks!
Irondad - Yes, that drive was an adventure. I found some parts of Phoenix I hadn't known existed.
Cynthia - Exactly.
I used to have mini retirements every couple of years due to quitting, getting laid off or whatever else. It's good to have that difficulty and flexibility in life. Some days, having a mortgage and a stable job feel more like burdens than benefits.
Let's start a cross country touring company.
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