I was on youtube binge the other day, spiraling downward into random self-help videos when I happened across a video about quitting your job. It was full of the same platitudes you are used to hearing in all ‘moving forward’ lectures, but one thing he said did stick with me.
Here is the video. It took me a while to find it. He is pretty touchy feely – please don’t judge me.
When addressing the requirement of work or our day job he responds with the idea that we choose to go to our job. We choose to do the work that is asked, then we do it all again the next day out of choice.
It certainly isn’t a complicated or novel concept, but what if that same principle could be applied to adventure in our lives. I so enjoy discovering something new, happening upon something I haven’t seen before. It’s why I would canvas the neighborhood on my bicycle and why I now canvas the state on my motorcycle.
So, is there a way to choose an adventure everyday. And no, I don’t think I am talking about just changing a mindset at work. (Everything is not an adventure if you want it to be. Sometimes the toilet just needs to be cleaned.) In real ways, can we find adventure everyday?
I don’t know, but maybe – in small spurts – if we work on it.
For the purposes of argument, the working definition of adventure will be “doing something in an exploratory manor where the outcome is not 100% certain”. In other words going where you have never gone before to learn about something.
I think we could find time and energy to do that most days. Here are some practical examples I thought of:
- Exploring a part of the office building you have never been and in which you probably don’t belong
- Intentionally getting lost on the long way home
- Going into the random bodega you pass all too often (pro tip: if it is sketch, pay with cash)
I don’t think we could ever replace a moto adventure with parkour-ing around the front lobby, but maybe there are small choices we could try – what you think?
