Photo taken by the author; Lake Country, B.C.
“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am a curious person and I thoroughly enjoy checking out new places, as well as learning interesting info about other people.
It’s who I am, which only points to my love for adventure and exploring.
Being curious and exploring go hand-in-hand.
You can’t have one without the other.
It’s the same with adventure.
Think of it as a triple-stranded link that cannot be separated.
It’s just part of being a guy and what it means to be human.
Humans, by definition, are adventurous creatures who are explorers at heart.
I love exploring each new house I’m in, each hotel I stay at, the restaurants I eat out at, the sports venues I attend, the bookstores I browse in, the coffee shops I go to read at (but most of the time end up people watching & eavesdropping), every beach I relax at when vacationing, every golf course I play, each new country I land in, and any conceivable space I am in that can be explored.
I do this work of exploration naturally.
Whether it’s small or big, it doesn’t matter as long as I’m exploring and finding out something new I hadn’t known before.
The North Face company has it right with their slogan which says, “Never Stop Exploring.”
This is one of my favorite quotes and I really like their clothing too.
This label is one of my favorite clothing line to wear, as it is a brand I feel fits my personality and what I’m about.
I wear it proudly and am proud to wear it.
When I wear this brand I feel adventurous and in need of some exploration to conquer.
It’s also like the Swiss Army knife I bought a few summer’s ago in Lucerne, Switzerland while travelling Europe.
The name of the knife was called “Explorer”.
Not surprisingly, the name of the tour I was on was called, “European Explorer.”
I hadn’t known this before I signed up and thought this was definitely not coincidental, but confirmation, about the voyage I had signed up for.
In life, adventures are all around us. You just have to be on the lookout for them.
As Kelli Worrall writes as the last advice to twenty-somethings:
“Finally, prepare to be amazed. Your life may look something like you envision. Or it may take you to places that you never imagined. Regardless. Hold on tight. Because God is in the business of blowing your mind.” (1)
For most of us, life (whether good or bad) has not turned out as we had expected.
I want to challenge each of you (myself included) to see this as part of a continual unfolding of adventures that are beyond our control, but in hindsight (and even going through them) are fun and exciting nevertheless.
I came across a cool song recently by the band, Switchfoot, entitled “Restless.”
I would encourage my readers to listen to this song on YouTube, as well as take note of the key stanza below:
I am restless, I am restless
I am restless, looking for you
I am restless, I run like the ocean to find your shore
I’m looking for you (2)
This song speaks to me about adventure.
For to be adventurous means to be restless; restless of the mundane, the usual, the dull, and the common.
Restless for excitement, freedom, and, you guessed it, adventure.
After all, life is meant to be an adventure and to be lived well.
An adventurous life is one that is well-lived.
We learn things about ourselves and this world by way of adventure.
It is in these rushing moments where some of our greatest understandings, most creative ideas, and deepest insights come from.
This is something to living life on purpose – with zeal, passion, and energy – that releases these ideas to be converged “on the go” that makes life worth living.
Being in the action, in the adventure, in the arena – whatever that looks like to you, is where this takes place.
So reader, when will be the first time you do something adventurous for the first time?
Notes:
(1) “20 Things I Wish I’d Known in My Late Twenties,” last modified March 5, 2014, http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/whole-life/20-things-i-wish-id-known-my-late-twenties.
(2) “Switchfoot: Restless,” last modified June 8, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4yMQ3sOGd8.
Dwight Van Middlesworth 