It is easy to fall into the trap of doing the same thing day in and day out. Wake up, work out, eat, work, eat, work, eat, sleep…rinse & repeat. We might throw in a curveball here and there and go to lunch with a friend or go to bowling night. But what helps you escape the monotony of rhythm that is so easy to fall into once we’ve found our “stable job”, strapped ourselves under a maxed out mortgage, purchased “reliable” vehicles to make sure we get to work and keep paying those student loans that loom because that “higher” education was vital to getting us to…where?
It is easy to fall into this space where the grind is the grind, food has to be put on the table and then the consumer luxuries become must-haves and although retirement is thought of it is an unlikely and lofty goal because defining those retirement contributions and allowing that income to slip away in the short term is just too “hard”.
Escape
Do something original or new. If you haven’t every hiked every stair in your office building then do it just to see how numb your legs feel the next day. If you have yet to run a 5k or it’s been too long, consider allowing your mind to wander to that space and start preparing. People think that adventure requires a month backpacking adventure to Europe is the only way to have an adventure. No…adventure is the “exploration of unknown territory”. Escape your current reality and move into something new and potentially exciting. Who knows, it might really suck but at least you tried and now you know that probably isn’t space or place you want to be in on a regular basis or ever again for that matter. Escaping is breaking free from your norm and allowing yourself to take a breathe from the norm society might inflict upon us.
Fresh Air
Taking this breath literally and figuratively can be a powerful tool for releasing endorphins necessary for brain stimulation, nervous system activity, and various physiological functions. Regardless of your job title, accountant, attorney, cook, homemaker, backhoe operator, etc. you have endorphins that you rely on to make sure your body and mind function according to the role you assume when working. The routine tasks required to complete these functions become simply routine and the brain stimulation does not allow for other parts of the body, mind, and spirit to become fully engaged. This is where adventure brings fresh air or oxygen to fuel the fire within.
Good company or No company
Depending on your personality adventure will include a partner, group(s) of people or it might be just you. There is no right answer except the right answer for you and who you are and even what you are doing to be adventurous. I have traveled Germany, France, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Haiti, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and to almost every state in the United States. I’ve seen a few places and no single one of them sticks out more to me than when I took my wife – Paige, mother – Jennie and oldest daughter – Blakely (10 months at the time) to Singapore and Indonesia while on a business trip. While I was in the office working during the day Paige and my mom took Blakely and toured around Singapore taking in all the sites from zoos, to museums, botanical gardens and abandoned cemeteries with wild dogs.
Many of these other countries I’ve been to I’ve seen millennium old castles, forts and structures, seen beautiful vistas and taken in wonderful beaches that are truly worth writing about. However, it was the time I took my young family to a foreign place, saw them adventure out and then took a ferry through the Singapore Strait to Indonesia where we saw huge Komodo dragons wandering through our hotel property, rode elephants, held a boa constrictor snake draped over my neck and kayaked in the South China Sea. This experience has been a topic of conversation for our family many times and will be a memory that sticks with me for a lifetime because it was so beyond my norm and present reality that I was and am able to reflect on that experience and learn from it and plan my next adventure that hopefully is equally as important for the memory banks.
Stimulates creativity
After an experience like Singapore and Indonesia, the creativity floodgates were opened. I had ventured out of my comfort zone, found something interesting, planned and created a trip that would last for years because of the incredible experience that it was. I came home from that experience and felt more invigorated and ready to meet the challenges of the day because I had broken from the mold that might beset me had I just gone, worked and returned home not having experienced anything while in that incredible part of the world.
Shortly after returning from Singapore in my “spare” time I found an additional 3 properties and we doubled our real estate business within 6 months. While the purchase of these properties is generally independent of the trip if I were not fresh and ready to create more memories like I had I would not have had the motivation to create more of these memories. And I’m a strong believer in the fact that because I like to play is why I like to work so I can afford to play.
Motivates you to return to the adventurous lifestyle:
Everything I do from working out in the mornings, at noon or participating in a sport in the evenings to working my tail off at work to reading my girls a book before bed is to create and establish the lifestyle I dream of having. I am motivated because I like to do cool things. I don’t let the grass grow under my feet because I quickly get the grass mowed and move on to greener pastures ripe for harvest. Now, I’ll stop with my farmer/landscaper metaphors but really the chance I have to play is why I work so hard to make sure I can. I am not interested in TV, I like a good movie here and there but time is my most finite resource and if I waste it watching somebody else’s life, however interesting it might be, I will miss my own and regret not having ceased the moment(s) that were given me. I will not accept regret into my life because I have too much to live ahead of me to fall captive to the things not done yesterday.
In summary, get out there, find something interesting or at least different to stimulate your mind and time with and help yourself grow through the adventure. I expect that you won’t regret it.