Adventure doesn’t have to be something that happens to someone else. The adventuresome know that we all live on the cusp of incredible potential. If that thought scares rather than thrills you, then maybe it is time to look at the world from the adventurous point of view.
1. You Believe in Your Dreams
The adventurous know of the importance of dreams. The inventor Elias Howe’s labor changing world first Sewing Machine; Salvador Dali’s classic painting the Persistence of Memory; Paul McCartney’s melody for Yesterday; James Cameron’s first blockbuster The Terminator; even Albert Einstein’s everything-changing Theory of Relativity; all began as dreams!
Every day is a new opportunity to dream new dreams, and to begin making them real.
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams… Live the life you have imagined!”
– Henry David Thoreau
2. You Seize the Day
The past is past, the future is created and the present is a gift. Adventurous people know the importance of seizing windows of opportunity. They know that once upon a time they made the decision to catch that train, that boat, that flight; and their life changed. Why wait for tomorrow to make a decision?
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”
– Bruce Lee
3. You Know the Barriers are Within
Fear and Anxiety. They seem to come from outside. But they are our own personal experiences. One person may feel the buzz of adrenalin before going on stage and be supercharged; another overcome by horrible internal images of expected social failure.
The adventurous all feel fear and anxiety and they have learned to understand them. They know that fear and anxiety exist to protect us from lions and tigers, and not to stop us from choosing a new hobby, a new job, or asking someone we like out. They’ve jumped over the internal hurdles, self-limiting beliefs; they can help others join them on the other side.
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”
– Neale Donald Walsch
4. You Don’t Let Naysayers Bring You Down
The list of famous naysayers is a long and humorous one.
From the IBM chief who didn’t expect the entire world market demand to grow beyond five whole computers[!], to the doubters of Christopher Columbus and the critics of the Wright Brothers – It becomes clear that every worthwhile plan has its detractors, and so if you are doing things out of the ordinary you may just have encountered some negativity yourself. This most usually speaks of the insecurities of the naysayers themselves.
“You can’t do that!”
– People who don’t believe in you
5. You Know New Friends Are Just Around the Corner
The Nightly News isn’t life. Your view of the greater world is the people you have met and the times that you have spent.
The beaming smiles of remote village children, the Good Samaritan workers who stopped in The Middle of Nowhere to helpfully fix your tire, the old couple running the warm and welcoming country hostel – all the incredible friends you made volunteering on the other side of the earth. You know that the love in your heart for your friends and family exists everywhere, within all people.
There is a sick and twisted minority out there of course. But we shouldn’t let them distort our view of life, or curb our enthusiasm!
“My humanity is bound up in yours. Because we can only be human together”
– Desmond Tutu
6. You Know there is No Success without Failure
You may have wanted to travel round the world but quit because of home-sickness, you may have started a business that didn’t gain enough clients – but you know that you have learned from these setbacks priceless knowledge that will help you in future. Edison (one of the greatest inventors of all time) famously never failed but “found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. Without that attitude of his we wouldn’t be able to benefit from the light bulb!
A child learns to ride a bike by frequently making mistakes. All those wobbles and outright falls and crashes are eventually integrated together into a pattern of success. Everyone learns through failure. Those who know this are the one’s achieving great success.
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default!”
– J.K. Rowling
7. You Know How to Deal with Loneliness and Frustration
Stepping out of your comfort zone to experience new peoples and places on your own can be challenging. You might find yourself friendless for long periods in a country where you don’t speak the language. You may encounter unexpected difficulties like natural disasters and missed flights.
Frustration can be overcome by going with the flow, and accepting you are not always in control of events, and loneliness by giving yourself a personal mission. Why not picture yourself as a roving reporter, taking notes on sights and sounds unknowable by those back home? Take a seat in a public cafe, relax, and watch the world go by.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill
8. You seek Inspiration in Nature
Nature recharges. It excites. It inspires. It heals.
It’s also just a plane, train or automobile away from even the biggest city. You know that the wonders of nature will be with you in your heart for the rest of your life; restoring your equilibrium, soothing your soul and providing an unparalleled muse.
These are all worth far more than the cost of going there and back again.
Get out there.
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks”
– John Muir
9. You seek Inspiration in Culture
The Taj Mahal, the Louvre, the Vatican City, Kyoto, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Serengeti, Machu Picchu. The world contains far more than Seven Wonders; every nation and culture on earth is a dazzling jewel of experience that can offer a lifetime’s worth of creative inspiration.
In centuries past the young and wealthy often went on a “Grand Tour” of the ancient cultures of Europe. Many modern creatives have followed in their footsteps; from Tolkien to Disney.
Thanks to 21st century transport, we can all potentially do the same (even if in installments); but now affordably taking in the Wonders of an Entire World!
“ideas come from curiosity”
– Walt Disney
10. You Know that Life is on Your Side
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”
– W.H. Murray, The Scottish Himalaya Expedition
Call it Serendipity. Call it Synchronicity. Call it what you will, but many adventurers have experienced first-hand “all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance” helping them towards their goal; Providence.
Beginnings really do have genius, power and magic within them.
So, as the adventurous would say, what are you waiting for?
Featured photo credit: A sport’s man dive in blue lagoon of a tropical island via shutterstock.com
