Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Helen Keller
My son called me over a week ago he’s moving my website from one computer to another and if it doesn’t work on Monday when I go to do my blog let him know. My site hasn’t been up for about a week and a half, but because I had a heads up I tried not to panic.
We panic when we don’t understand what is happening and we don’t panic when the same thing happens but we understand why it is happening. If a post doesn’t get out for a week or two it is not the worst thing in the world. It’s not a major catastrophe.
I did panic a little thinking I might lose my posts, I looked through my word documents and somehow in word, I can’t find about a year and a half worth of posts. Now my site is back up and all my posts are intact I am breathing a sigh of relief.
I’m listening to a video of Jordan Peterson talking about why our goal should not be to be happy because the happiness boat is easily capsized. What can we have that is more reliable than happiness? He tells us he thinks adventure is more reliable than happiness.
Adventure gives us something that offers a bigger life. Marriage is an adventure that offers many challenges. When people are asked what they regret in life it isn’t what they did that didn’t work, it’s what they didn’t do that might have worked. Wow, what calls us to lead a bigger life, what difficult challenge is before us that might be worth taking on and where might it lead?
I can’t say I have any challenges before me that seem like dancing on the edge. Being a writer is not living on the edge, it can seem like it, but my life is safe and sound whether anyone reads my blog and books or not.
Watching our eleven-month-old grandson crawl up the staircase is watching someone taking on a challenge that is on the edge. He could tumble and fall and has had a misstep or two but someone was behind him to keep him from falling down a full flight of stairs. He claps his hands when he reaches the top proud of his accomplishment.
Adventure isn’t hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day-to-day obstacles in life. John Amatt
My daughter showed us a video of a small boy that climbed up on the kitchen table on top of pizza boxes and we laugh and say that will be our grandson. We expect to find him standing on top of pizza boxes with the biggest smile on his face, and a piece of pizza in his hand. Children are made for adventure, and some children are more adventurous than others, but all development is pushing beyond the boundaries of what they can do.
When do we lose this love of adventure? When do we tell ourselves that we can’t take any more chances, the risk is no longer worth the possible reward? Does security really exist or do we need to walk a fine balance between risk and security? We want to provide a home for our family and that takes stability and security, but too much security and stability can make us want to turn over the tables and create chaos.
How can we have more adventure in our lives without uprooting everything we’ve built? Could much of the conflict in marriages be that we don’t have enough adventure in other parts of our lives so we bring excitement into our lives by creating conflict?
Can creative endeavors be part of what brings excitement into our lives so we feed that part of our lives without creating the excitement of chaos in our family? It isn’t life or death if a creative project works, but it brings something to our life, we grow and learn as we create something.
If we face our fears in our creative endeavors, we might be creating something but we don’t show anyone what we are creating. When we start to share our creativity with others it feels like a huge risk, bringing excitement to our life. Performing in front of people, whether acting, public speaking, singing, etc., is always a risk, and taking risks is exhilarating. Groups like Toastmasters, writing groups, or even going out to Karaoke can bring excitement into our lives. Do we have enough adventure in our lives, and can we bring adventure into our lives without giving up safety and security?
Starting a business is one of the biggest risks any of us can take. We count on ourselves to provide the income we need and it can be terrifying but also exhilarating. I’ve heard that some of the best businesses are started during downtimes in the economy. Perhaps when we realize there is no safety in counting on someone else to pay us there isn’t as much risk in counting on ourselves.
If we want to live a life of few regrets we’ll have to take the chances to build the life we want. My biggest regret would be if I didn’t take a chance on marriage, children, and building a business with my husband. If I had continued to waffle about creating this blog, or self-publishing the books I’ve written. We might not make as much money going on our own as working for a big company depending on the work we do, but we might have a more successful life because what makes a rich life isn’t all about money.
What chances do we wish we’d taken that still might be possible?
The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience. Eleanor Rooselvelt
Some journeys take us far from home. Some adventures lead us to our destiny. C.S. Lewis
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. George Bernard Shaw
Thank you for reading this post. If you enjoyed it please come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
