Left to our own devises I asked my daughter what she wanted to do for the day. Her answer was, “read books,” which is a great answer and on many a day I would be happy just staying home and reading books, but the sun was shining and the outside worlds was calling. I asked, “do you want to go on an adventure?” “Yeahhhhhh!” she roared as her immediate response. Then she asked a very important question, “Daddy, what’s adventure?” which prompted me to explore the whole idea of “adventure.”
Webster’s dictionary defines adventure as: “a hazardous, exciting or risky undertaking.” As an optimist I struggle with that definition. I get the exciting part, but hazardous and risky speak only to me of the unknown and the possible so I am afraid that the definition is a bit off putting. I fear that the even slightly timid will be kept from adventure and miss out on the gift of exploration simply because it labeled as something hazardous or risky. Adventure is a journey into the possibilities both known and unknown. We take risks simply by getting out of bed in the morning (or not getting out of bed), but I understand that when most people think “risky” they think of rock climbing (we did see some people rock climbing and in a few years maybe Ainsley will be ready for that one), sky diving, white water rafting and things along those lines. I remember when I was a freshman in college at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and we were given all these different options for an orientation trip. I chose, “white water rafting” and the permission form mentioned the possibility of death something like seventeen times. It’s easy to see that kind of thing as an adventure, but is the possibility of death really our criteria for adventure? It is not an adventure to do something new, learn something new, try some strange food, travel to a distant land, explore a forest; adventure like life is what you make it (or maybe that should be the other way around). Even your daily routine can be an adventure if you make it one.
I guess for me it comes down to a state of mind. Pushing your own bounds and living into the freedom of adventure depend entirely on your outlook. You don’t have to climb mountains, throw yourself off of cliffs, jump out of planes or travel the world to be an adventurer. What you need is to be excited for the possibilities of every moment and to have the willingness to jump into the opportunities that life presents you with. Life is an adventure and the question is, “are you going to sleep through it and be bored with it or are you going to live it fully and be excited by it?”
Tripping the Light Fantastic 