A few weeks ago I separated from my partner of 8 years. Mulling over how I wanted my life to be now, one word sprang to mind: ADVENTURE.
But What Does Adventure Mean?
For me adventure means travel, backpacking, walking, hiking. So when a friend was telling me about a hike in the Atlas mountains he did, I went straight home and booked my own trip. (I’m going next week!)
And a couple of weeks ago I cycled with some friends from Milan to Venice: definitely an adventure for a non-cyclist to cycle 50+ miles a day!
An around the world trip would definitely be an adventure. But it’s not something I want to do right now as it would take me away from my Mum for too long. She suffers with dementia and I don’t know how much time we have with her.
Stayventures!
So this morning, I sat in my garden and started to write a list of adventures I can have right now, without leaving home for more than a week.
This is the list I came up with:
- Walk the South Downs Way
- Do another stretch of El Camino
- Go kayaking
- Go to the photography club
- Try a dance class
- Organise a meet up with a walker I connected with on IG
You might be thinking that that those last 3 items hardly constitute an adventure. But as I wrote this list I started to think: “What is an adventure?”
Courage and Exploration
I realised that for me, an adventure is something that pushes me beyond my comfort zone and offers a new experience to explore. So that could mean buying a ticket on the Orient Express. But it may equally mean squeezing your head round the door of an art class that you have been wanting to do for years.
If it takes courage, it’s an adventure! If you’re going to discover something new, it’s an adventure!
Lettuces!
In fact, everything in my day can be an adventure if I frame it as one.
For example I’m not a big fan of cooking. I would rather do other things with my time. But I also hate waste and I have several lettuces waiting to be eaten in my garden. The possibility of these lettuces going to waste has been taking up a little corner of my mind for days. But I really don’t want to be making salads. So I’ve been stuck. But what if I frame it as an adventure. How can I go beyond my comfort zone here? What new thing will I discover?
Oooh now I’m getting interested! How about if I find a recipe for lettuce soup? Then I can use all the lettuces at one go. And maybe I will have to have a wander into town to find some ingredients. Now it’s starting to sound like fun. An adventure, albeit a little one. And I’ve replaced a stuck vibrationl feeling with an excited vibration.
Bring Adventure To The Everyday
Now this may seem like a silly example. The point is, if we can take all the little areas of life where we are stuck/ bored/ procrastinating/scared and then reframe these ‘pain points’ as adventures, then maybe we can create more joy and less frustration and grumpiness.
So next time I’m face with a task I don’t want to do (which will probably be in the next 60 minutes!), I’m going to ask myself
- Where’s the opportunity to go beyond my comfort zone?
- How can I discover new things
- Where’s the adventure
I’m hoping this is going to bring a lot of fun and adventure to everyday.
Let me know what you think!
What does adventure mean to you?
Can everyday be an adventure?