Etymology: Middle English aventure, chance, risk, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *adventura, from Latin adventus, past participle of advenire to arrive, from ad- + venire to come
1. (a) an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks (b) the encountering of risks "the spirit of adventure"
2. an exciting or remarkable experience "an adventure in exotic dining"
3. an enterprise involving financial risk
So does adventure have to do with external circumstance? Or an internal attitude? A conscious choice to "encounter" risks? All of the above?
I've had some time to contemplate what adventure means and to me, it dovetails with worry. Since my elementary school days, I've been a rather anxious & timid person (OK, a worry-wart). Even now, I'm usually the voice of reason in any given group, thinking about what could go wrong, and why. I attribute this partly to my upbringing and the inherited part of my inborn personality. But it likely has something to do with spending 1/3 of my life in the insurance industry, imagining worst case scenarios & thinking about potential catastrophic disasters (in the business, we call this "risk assessment") . Yet I do remember a time when I would try all sorts of things with complete abandon; when I was around five years old I was a ninja on the gymnastic bars at the school park, to my dad's chagrin! What happened to me? It would be interesting if there was a way to pinpoint what events in my life prompted the retreat within the safety of my shell. Perhaps it's irrelevant. I know of this tendency, and as an adult I can choose to fix it.
The question is, how?
Thankfully I'm married to a man who does not share this debilitating trait. In fact, Aron generally has a fair amount of disregard for anxiety and worry. His encouragement & example is a definite advantage.
In trying to embrace a "sense of adventure" I'm realizing that it's obviously going to mean different things to different people. Jon Krakauer, the famous mountaineer who conquered Everest, would laugh in the face of a hike up Alberta's Black Rock Mountain. But scaling the summit involves a scree slope which I didn't really notice until it was too late, as I was blithely following my friends. Suddenly I found myself clinging on for dear life to a scraggly excuse for a tree, berating myself for such foolishness. I couldn't help it - I looked behind me at the steep angle and the sharp boulders that would be my demise. If I'd stayed behind at camp and read a book instead, I'd be on solid ground right now! My leg muscles trembling with exertion, I was trying to muster the courage to scramble to the top, when the shale began to give way. There was no choice, no thinking, just doing. Within seconds I reached the top and it was glorious! I did it! (Oh, did I skip the part about how I was sort of crying a bit while my life flashed before my eyes? Don't laugh. Let me keep my dignity!) They say we should "do one thing a day that scares you". If that means making small talk with a stranger, or singing karaoke then so be it. Baby steps.
I was flipping through the radio the other day and stumbled upon a song by "Uncle Kracker". I was ready to change the channel as I didn't like the lyrics of his prior top-40 hit. Just in time, he crooned "...I got no worries that I'm worried about..." and I had a light-bulb moment. There can be a distinction between having worries and choosing to worry about them! This will be one of my mantras for a while - I love it!
Finding inspiration in pop culture. Who would have thought?
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