What about Adventure?
I’m grateful for my experiences as they continue to light my inner vitality. I’m grateful for the challenges that have presented themselves, for the grief I have felt, the shame I have faced and the guilt I’ve had. I’m grateful for my awareness in life’s ups and downs and that vitality flows moment-to-moment. Above all I am grateful that I continue, despite any opposition, to strive above the barriers. Adventure makes this possible.
The word adventure is rooted in Latin as a way to say ‘something is about to happen’. If we look towards the French, adventure is rooted in the perception of something happening from luck or chance. It moves into a state of dissonance after this, adventure mingles between coming and going, a risk and a wonder, miraculous and dangerous. What we are left with isn’t clear…the very inspiration of adventure.
To be adventurous is to expect the unexpected, to be on the lookout for the blessings in disguise we experience. When I reflect on difficulties, hardships, loss…I learn and grow. For these blessings I am forever grateful.
For me, a lifetime of gratefulness grew from a single seed. Living gratefully emerged when I chose to live freely. I found a sense of openness to ‘what’s next’ brings energy into my life. Near the top of the Talamanca Mountains I was given a gift. I had experienced life in a sustainable community with people from all over the world who left their former selves behind to take on a life of adventure. They chose to find that next something to happen. Their vitality, grown through a renewable lifestyle, was planted in each visitor as a seed. Through this seed I was offered the chance to pass their message forward.
A sense of adventure, taking that leap of faith, going outside the box: We embrace life when we are grateful for the adventure of life. Whether deep inside the rainforest, finding stillness on a fallen tree or in the middle of Times Square, walking in a crowd: We learn to live when we learn what makes us thrive. These opportunities become agents of change and encourage us to look forward. What I’ve learned since my time in Costa Rica is that our life can be split in two, our personal world and the world that connects us to each other. Adventurers have one thing in common; they include future aspirations in daily life. They are open to what life may bring in the future. For this adventure can connect our two worlds as one movement forward.
When we live with a sense of adventure we have the opportunity to look forward in life. I find myself grateful knowing that each moment moves into the next and what was present at this moment is no longer. I live my life with gratefulness as each breath I take is a signal to carry on in the journey of life. Each moment brings new experiences to color our world, to shape our perspective and to develop meaning in life. Like a tree, if we don’t give light and nutrients to life it fades. Adventure powers my life in big and small ways as I maintain the belief in expecting the unexpected. I offer to you the seed of adventure, of finding the blessings in disguise, learning from what first may have appeared as a mistake…failure…defeat…has the opportunity to bloom into a moment of growth…change…transformation. A leaf turns to brown, rests, finds new life and lives.
The words of Brother David Steindl-Rast echo the lessons from the Durika Biological Reserve: Want to be happy? Be grateful. I suggest if feeling grateful is a challenging state of mind or if our mood is clouded in ‘what’s not’, try adventure and take a chance. Discovering a reason for living offers energy in life, welcoming what may come. When we take a deep breath and look out to the world ahead we are deepening our connection to gratefulness.
Now that’s a world we can all find ourselves in. #ValueVitality for all.
