Monday December 1st, 2008
When I was a young girl I read Choose Your Own Adventure books.
You remember; the bottom of the page said something like…
If you choose to try your key in the lock of the ancient door, turn to page 89. If you choose to take the corridor to your left instead, turn to page 42. If you choose to turn around and return to the jeep waiting outside, turn to page 17.
Inevitably, one would lead to certain death, one would lead to vast fortune, and one would take the reader on a journey through the Aztec jungle. But each ending offered a different exciting alternative.
My life right now doesn’t look like much of an adventure.
I drive my Honda to first grade field trips and I get excited when bananas are on sale at my neighborhood market. The clean clothes “mountain” in my bedroom usually resembles Everest and my cat usually has to whine in my face so I will remember to fill her food dish. Sometimes I have to clean last night’s dinner dishes from my sink so I will have room to put tonight’s dishes somewhere.
Toilet training a toddler is more difficult than I remember and I have failed in my “job” as a tender of the container garden on my deck. My life doesn’t taste or smell very adventurous. The only “jungles” I navigate are in my own laundry room or my daughters’ toy closet.
But one thing 2008 taught me was that adventure can be found in my every day and that when adventure presents itself, accept it.
I’ve had mini-equine adventures on the floor of my six-year-old’s room and played fairy-tale-hide-and-seek with my toddler. All in one afternoon.
Adventure does not always come dressed with plane tickets for an equatorial locale or ancient skeleton keys, but more often with sticky popsicle hands ready to play sprinkler-tag in the backyard.
Helen Keller said that “Life is a either a great adventure or nothing.”
My children, my husband – these are my adventures. I am learning that adventure is all around me and that life is not worth living unless I’m aware of the adventure I am in the middle of. And these adventures are my choice.
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I think parenting is quite the Adventure! At least around here it is. Navigating the emotionally unstable territory of a 6 year old daughter, the regressive potty trained 4 year old daughter, and the antics of a 2 year old son seems like quite the adventure to me! Some times more adventure than I need!
“I am learning that adventure is all around me and that life is not worth living unless I’m aware of the adventure I am in the middle of.”
beautiful words.
i’m off to live my adventure for monday!
Those are the best kind of adventures! The ones memories are made of!
Choosing to turn the mundane into the wildest adventure is really the thrill of being a grown-up. We have the choice to love it, or leave it. I choose to love it!!
I read those books as well! I always ended up dying!!
Thanks for this…I needed it!
every day is an adventure. i am learning to treasure it and enjoy it.
i need to look for adventure, because my life seems pretty boring at the moment.