4 Ways to Live Your Best Adventure
Extraordinary, Simple or Just Right
Welcome to March - the month of building your adventure super powers!
Some people are naturally more adventurous than others.
They travel and visit new places.
Meet new people. Try new things.
Others are happier in smaller circles and enjoy solitude.
Both types of people can build their adventure super powers.
Recently, I read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The main character, Nora, wanted to die. But instead of dying, she ended up in an unusual in-between place called the Midnight Library. The books on the shelves were the possible lives she could live. On a parallel universe level, she was living all these lives and could choose which one to step into. Let’s take a look at some of her adventures. You might find some insights for yourself as you think about building your adventure super powers.
Adventures Alone with Nature
One thing Nora learned as she tried out different lives was that her view of happiness or what a good life looked like, turned out to be different than what she thought. In her original life, she was alone and felt lonely; she thought being alone was not a good life. But, in one of her lives, she was a glaciologist, and as she stood alone in a glacial landscape, she felt anything but alone. She remembered this quote from Henry David Thoreau in Walden, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Thoreau had observed that part of this success was the product of being alone. He said, “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”
Some people will read this and say, “Of course. We need alone time.” But not everyone knows that, feels that, enjoys that, does that. Our society encourages the belief that being alone can be lonely. Yet, some people have expressed the fact that they have never felt more alone than when in the company of another person.
Sometimes we think being alone is not happiness or success, when actually we may need to be alone to find each of those. In a recent podcast with Jay Shetty and Lewis Howes, Shetty shares that in the early years of Facebook, founder Mark Zuckerberg was asking his mentor, Steve Jobs, for advice on how to advance Facebook. Jobs’ advice was to go alone to an ashram in India, and it was there that Zuckerberg found his answer. Being alone can bring great insights.
Nature can be a great place to experience on your own. While nature may seem quiet, the longer you are in it, you will come to the realization that you are anything but alone. The number of living things in the outdoors might blow your mind. There are insects, birds, animals, organisms and plants, and trees. I’ve recently learned about the community and connectivity of trees. Their root systems are connected. They share resources, and they communicate with each other. There’s a lot of conversation going on in nature that happens on levels we can’t hear. Just step into it and connect with nature, and you may feel the community.
The point is, don’t be afraid to take adventures on your own - without another human. You never know what you will find.
Let’s get back to Nora from The Midnight Library.
Extraordinary Adventures
Nora took many adventures and lived many lives. In one life she had a solitary life in Paris. In another, she was a yoga teacher with the neck mobility of an owl. In another, she was a lifeguard near Barcelona. She was also an aid worker in Botswana, a cat-sitter, a volunteer in a homeless shelter, a chess champion, an Olympic swimmer, a rock star, a glass-blower, a shoplifter, a professional dog walker, and a thousand other things.
Each of these lives were adventures and taught her many things. She found different parts of herself and different strengths. Those are some of the things adventures bring.
In each of our lives, there are many paths we can take and many doors we can open. What’s the harm in opening each door (each adventure)? There are often many benefits to taking leaps of faith.
Try an extraordinary adventure this year - something you would normally never do. Growth is in the area of discomfort. See how it builds your super powers.
Simple Adventures
Let’s consider a different definition of adventure. Adventure is defined as an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity. Well, no wonder some of us choose not to take an adventure! The older I get, the less I want to willingly and intentionally put myself in harm’s way.
What if we took a simpler and more mindful approach to adventure? What if an adventure was some unusual and exciting, thoroughly enjoyable, experience or activity? It could be a new hiking trail. It could be a new dance class. It could be a new book club. It can still be an adventure, but nobody gets hurt. “Sometimes the thing that looks the most ordinary might end up being the thing that leads you to victory.” Also a quote from The Midnight Library.
Just Right Adventures
What if extraordinary or simple is not right for you? Then, hold tight for just right. I love the story of Goldilocks. As a child, I was so excited to dress up as Goldilocks one year for Halloween. Unfortunately, it was cold that October, so I had to wear my brown winter coat over my costume. Instead of being just one fairy tale character, Goldilocks, I felt like a mixture of the whole fairy tale - Goldilocks and the Three Bears - with my Goldilocks mask and my brown bear coat. But sometimes the mixture of extraordinary and simple can be what is just right.
Last year I learned to kayak and do Krav Maga (Israeli self-defense). My son and daughter took up running and did half-marathons and marathons. My daughter’s races were organized events. My son’s half-marathon was a spur-of-the-moment decision as he headed out the door for a run! There was also sky-diving, hiking and lengthy bike rides. This year, some adventures on the horizon are voice lessons, Tango dance lessons, travel to Africa and who knows what else, for the year has just begun.
When you head out to build your adventure super powers this month, go big, go calmly, but just go.
Go on an adventure that is just right for you.
You’ll be glad you did.
I’ll bet you can feel those adventure muscles and super powers growing already.
Share an adventure that you plan to take in March with us in the comments!
Help others build their Super Powers!
This month we focus on adventures. Next month we focus on environment.
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