On an adventure...
Here's something I wrote about a month ago, sometime in early October:
I’ve been in the mood for an adventure lately.
Not just any adventure. Not just the kind that you read in one of George MacDonald’s books, although I love those. Not just the kind that you watch in a Lord of the Ring’s movie. Not just the kind that proceeds from someone else’s imagination.
No. I’ve been in the mood for my own adventure. A real life adventure. The kind that teaches you something, that shows you a new way of viewing life. The kind that brings out colors and ideas that you wouldn’t otherwise have seen or had.
So I’ve been keeping my eyes open, searching for even the smallest opportunity to go on an adventure. I finally found one the other day, when I was given an unexpected break from work. I’d had a book with me, just in case something of that sort happened. A fantasy book that I was reading in an attempt to satisfy my thirst for adventure. Just as I was settling down to loose myself in someone else’s life, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to have my own adventure. So, without hesitating any longer, I set off. It wasn’t a very long adventure. Some wouldn’t even call it an adventure. Some would only see it as a pleasant walk on a country road. But to me, it was a vibrant adventure, emanating life, color, and new experiences.
I am very familiar with the particular stretch of road that my adventure took place on. I used to travel it every day between school and home. Not once, however, during nine years of living on that road, did I ever notice how gorgeous the country side is. When I revisited it, things that had once been common, even mundane, were brimming with new life.The vineyards and apple orchards, bursting with the brilliant colors of fall, surrounded and enclosed mysterious pockets of redwood groves, from which emerged the delicate and tantalizing scents of damp bark and musty leaves. The soft, chill air was adorned by a light mist, which swirled about me in languid eddies. The narrow road, composed of deteriorating gravel, was strewn with amber leaves.
It’s funny what a huge influence our minds have on us. This could have been just a normal walk. I could have been preoccupied the whole time, and not noticed the beauty surrounding me. But the only thing I was preoccupied with was the beauty around me, and that turned it into an adventure.
What is an adventure? Surely not simply traveling a long, dusty path just to reach a destination. Is an adventure defined by where you end up, or by the lessons you learn and the sights you see along the way?
Sometimes I get caught up in looking for an adventure. In waiting for the perfect time, the perfect opportunity. In specifically “going on an adventure”, instead of making an ordinary occurrence, like a walk down an old country road, into an adventure. I spend so much time waiting for something exciting to happen, that I forget that life is exciting. Far too often, I let myself sit in the doldrums of life, not remembering that I can open my eyes, look about me, and see things from a new perspective.
So tomorrow, I’m going to take another adventure. The adventure of life. I’m going to step outside of the monotonous rituals that I so often preform. I’m going to look at life from a fresh perspective, by focusing on the beauty around me and the bounty of blessings that I daily receive and seldom recognize. It’s time to stop searching for an adventure, and start living the one that has been placed before me.
I’ve been in the mood for an adventure lately.
Not just any adventure. Not just the kind that you read in one of George MacDonald’s books, although I love those. Not just the kind that you watch in a Lord of the Ring’s movie. Not just the kind that proceeds from someone else’s imagination.
No. I’ve been in the mood for my own adventure. A real life adventure. The kind that teaches you something, that shows you a new way of viewing life. The kind that brings out colors and ideas that you wouldn’t otherwise have seen or had.
So I’ve been keeping my eyes open, searching for even the smallest opportunity to go on an adventure. I finally found one the other day, when I was given an unexpected break from work. I’d had a book with me, just in case something of that sort happened. A fantasy book that I was reading in an attempt to satisfy my thirst for adventure. Just as I was settling down to loose myself in someone else’s life, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to have my own adventure. So, without hesitating any longer, I set off. It wasn’t a very long adventure. Some wouldn’t even call it an adventure. Some would only see it as a pleasant walk on a country road. But to me, it was a vibrant adventure, emanating life, color, and new experiences.
I am very familiar with the particular stretch of road that my adventure took place on. I used to travel it every day between school and home. Not once, however, during nine years of living on that road, did I ever notice how gorgeous the country side is. When I revisited it, things that had once been common, even mundane, were brimming with new life.The vineyards and apple orchards, bursting with the brilliant colors of fall, surrounded and enclosed mysterious pockets of redwood groves, from which emerged the delicate and tantalizing scents of damp bark and musty leaves. The soft, chill air was adorned by a light mist, which swirled about me in languid eddies. The narrow road, composed of deteriorating gravel, was strewn with amber leaves.
It’s funny what a huge influence our minds have on us. This could have been just a normal walk. I could have been preoccupied the whole time, and not noticed the beauty surrounding me. But the only thing I was preoccupied with was the beauty around me, and that turned it into an adventure.
What is an adventure? Surely not simply traveling a long, dusty path just to reach a destination. Is an adventure defined by where you end up, or by the lessons you learn and the sights you see along the way?
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| Woods Lake, Tahoe |
So tomorrow, I’m going to take another adventure. The adventure of life. I’m going to step outside of the monotonous rituals that I so often preform. I’m going to look at life from a fresh perspective, by focusing on the beauty around me and the bounty of blessings that I daily receive and seldom recognize. It’s time to stop searching for an adventure, and start living the one that has been placed before me.
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