Adventures are simple, really. It’s a state of mind, not just where you allow your feet to carry you.
I have a friend, this friend is constantly bored. Oh, yes, I see you. Sit down.
Anyway, this friend gets bored easily. I’m not really sure how he manages to be so bored so constantly because, to be honest, I’m never ever bored. It so rarely happens, and when it does happen, if I check my gut, I tend to realize that I’m restless. And that’s a whole other thing than boredom.
Adventure is out there.
But, it starts with you. When something goes wrong, is it an adventure or a bad day? Yeah, well, I guess it can be both. But listen, you choose.
I have another friend. This friend thinks the world carries a grudge against her. Never has she ever made a bad choice in her life. No, no. It’s the world. The universe hates her. It’s always been out to get her anyway so that really explains everything. But what would it look like if she shifted her perspective, accepted responsibility, and quit the woe-is-me mentality?
Adventure is out there.
And we’re responsible to find it. Or, I mean, if you aren’t into adventure, then that’s fine. You can get off here.
Adventure can be little and big. You can have adventure without boarding an airplane for the other side of the world. It’s getting lost in your hometown, going down a street you’ve never walked before. You’ll never know what you’ll find.
Once I wandered down a random city street in the South Side, and I found a big ole army truck parked behind a chain-link fence in the yard between two townhouses. I’m still wondering over that curiosity. Why is there? Who put it there? Is it a weird tiny house?
I don’t know!
Adventure is the unknown. And isn’t there a lot of unknown in the world. So. Much.
Some of my most memorable adventures don’t include expensive activities. Nope. In high school, a group of us met in the park, played dress-up, and walked back trails with a camera and a sense of adventure.
For a friend’s birthday, we drove up to a high hill and lit sparklers and danced on the pavement. Magic.
Maybe I have a little too much childlike wonder in me that allows me to find the magic and adventure in such small, small things. But I love it. In the darkest of nights, I’ll search for the tiniest star twinkle. On the stormiest of life seasons, I’ll fight for that silver lining…and I’ll find it, even if it’s the slimmest of slim.
Adventure is out there, if you’re willing to have the eyes to see it.
I write this to you at the onset of a 6-week trip to the other side of the world. I feel audacious and crazy and wonderful and scared and brave and thrilled and nauseous. And I feel like I’ll have many opportunities to find the silver lining, tiniest star twinkle, and more when things don’t go according to my plan.
But, here’s to adventure! Let us go forth, be adventurous, and dream a little more!
Toni Shiloh, Author
