A Sense Of Adventure

Reading a book all about challenging yourself to start something new “The Doorstep Mile” I was asked a question. By the author, Alastair Humphreys. Not by the imaginary voices in my head, you understand.

The question was: why do you want to live more adventurously?

And that gave me pause for thought. Do I really want to live “more adventurously"? In actual fact I like a quiet life. I like to observe from the outside. I like the familiar. Sometimes I just like to curl up in a ball.

”Adventure” … going into the unknown , whether that be the physical world, or habit challenges, or learning new skills, is uncomfortable for me. As it may well be for you. These are not things that I have a strong urge to do. And yet I still finding myself doing, or trying to do them, sometimes.

So yesterday, as I read the question, I didn’t have an easy answer. I do know that when I’ve tried to do anything that extends me, I’ve usually come away with a sense of achievement. But that was all I could think of at the time.

Today, reflecting about it a little bit more, I realise that even though I don’t have the urge for adventure, I do really want to have the urge. I don’t want to always have to push myself really hard. Even though there will always be some amount of “push” involved in leaving The Comfort Zone.

So really Adventure, in every sense of the word, is for me simply an act of faith.

The belief that it is possible to change. To become the sort of person who relishes new challenges. The sort of person who possesses A Sense Of Adventure.

These days I’m a little bit more of that kind of person than I was. Which is a step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.