Adventure Is a Decision

 Life can be repetitive and seem dull, but the power to break out of routine and see everything differently is all inside. Adventure is out there, but it’s also right in each day. I believe in imagination and seizing opportunities, hence I shall employ such philosophies.

~***~

     “Adventure is a decision,” I thought to myself. I looked down at my toes, inching their way across the decaying log that seemed so halfheartedly strewn across that deep gap – as if nature forgot to care about the safety of lionhearted hikers such as I. 
    In front of me stood my adventure partner and the very rock that was my goal. We had dared to cross the unconventional log-bridge over the daunting crevasse betwixt our newfound prospects of adventure. The world was green, the color of good memories. And from giant rock to giant rock, I was determined to be bold. But really, things such as boldness are only a matter of opinion anyway.
    In reality, or what is most widely accepted as reality, I was simply gallivanting around with my best friend. We were only a few steps off the trail of a well-known hike to a waterfall. The hike wasn’t difficult or significant, and we had come with a large group of regular churchgoers. The rocks we crossed would not likely even get the attention of most passersby. But were we most passersby? No, we were not. 
    Who decided that reality had to be perceived as such a dour fact? Really, a person can only decide that for themselves. Not every silly idea that comes to mind throughout a day needs to automatically be dismissed. Sometimes "adventure" is simply defined as merely life's moments of merry memory making. 
    People often live life in autopilot, only to complain about how uneventful their days are – unbeknownst to the fact that they make it that way for themselves. There’s something beautiful about things like walking along logs when there are logs to walk along, and making a sport out of every doorknob. Small decisions to have fun are everywhere.
     I habitually walk through puddles, sprinklers, and rivers with my sole desideratum being to convincingly act as if water is a myth because that’s just something that makes life more exciting. Also, water was never real anyway. 
    I walk faster and more confidently around in the dark, notwithstanding the fact that I frequently crash into furniture, walls, and various crash-able objects that place themselves in my path – because why would I choose to have less fun if I can have more? The only reason people feel their lives are so utterly mundane is because they choose to see them that way. I would argue that even, though usually unintentional, most people even choose to make their lives mundane.
    With life and routine, a person can become numb to the most beautiful things, and to the most rewarding opportunities. Certain decisions may seem silly or useless, but they are exactly what can make your day more enjoyable and exciting. And personally, I would much rather go for the enjoyable and exciting aspect when it comes to such things.
    “Normal people don’t have as much fun as we do,” I stated to my adventure partner.
    “Yeah, everybody just misses the little things that make life better.” He responded.
    “I think so too. I like the smaller parts of an adventure that make it so much fun... they’re like sub-adventures.” I said, appreciating our shared point of view.
    “Sub-adventures are what make adventures be adventures.”
He was wise, he got it — we are to make our lives turn out grand with every simple moment we have at hand. That statement has proven to be true, at least to me. 
    Every day presents me with opportunities to make memories, and sometimes these opportunities can be small things, but this philosophy also applies to much larger events in life. Only when we know what we want and how to enjoy the unenjoyable, will we be able to turn our small existence into something greater on a much larger scale. It starts with determination, I believe, to get to where is desired, no matter how large the end goal may be.

    I am my own person, and the ability to live life as a lionhearted landloper lies directly in my decisions. I am not doomed to sit in a cubicle and go home to a house stuffed with extra space and unnecessary items until the day I die. I do not need to wait for adventure to thrust itself into my face until it is an undeniable fact of life, I solely need to thrust myself into adventure and let it take me away. 

With My Adventure Partner <3

-Rebecca Brander

(Originally written as a paper for my writing class last year)