If someone asked you to pick a number between 1 and 10 that denotes how much adventure you’re experiencing these days, what would it be? That’s an interesting question, isn’t it? Some of you might be squirming a little right about now, because no one wants to be seen as altogether un-adventuresome, but on the other hand, you like being a homebodies and don’t want to be judged in your jammies. Others of us are constantly on the move or planning the next adventure.
What is an adventure anyway? Should it be something like climbing a Colorado Fourteener, or can it be as simple as trying the latest latte on the seasonal menu at Starbucks?
The answer is yes. Experiencing an adventure is simply trying something new.
In her article, The Many Health Benefits of Trying Something New, Lauren Mazzo says there are plenty of good reasons why we should try new things, including the boost of confidence that can occur when we do it.
If reading 52 books this year will be a new experience for you, consider it a feat of adventure. That shift in focus will help you meet your goal and leave you with a welcome sense of accomplishment. Experts say that’s a really healthy thing.
Whether you’re a new mom at home with a sweet little baby, or a grandmother who has already traveled the world, here are five ways to add a little more adventure to your day – or just encourage you to keep on keeping on.
Take the Road Less Traveled
One super easy way to add a little adventure to your day is to take a different way home. When we lived in the Texas panhandle, we joked about how well we knew the roads from one place to another. So familiar were the routes that we often said we could drive them in our sleep. Just driving down a different street or through a less-familiar neighborhood will engage your brain in a fresh way. You’ll be watching for the stop signs and gaining inspiration from landscaping you’ve never noticed before. You might even have a whole slew of new things to talk about at dinner.
Eat the Appetizers
If you haven’t tried Brussels sprouts at least three different ways, you probably haven’t been enjoying dinner with very many millennials. Goodness, they are so adventurous when it comes to food, and we can learn a lot from letting them order the starters.
Read Some Blogs
Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. As the result of an illness, a divorce or unforeseen circumstances, trying new things may seem like quite a challenge. Reading blogs is one way to set aside your own limitations and live a little vicariously from the pages of someone else’s life. Travel bloggers allow you to “see” what it would be like to visit some pretty far away and far out places without actually having to pay for it yourself. Other people blog about the adventures of things like homesteading, including pictures and descriptions of how to properly milk a cow. Something about seeing how other real-live people live imparts a measure of adventure into our own process of thought.
Celebrate Occasions
Having just returned from a special week in Austin, my adventurous heart is pretty full. After months of anticipating the births of our friends’ twin babies, we finally got to hold the little darlings. Goodness, they were so precious. I’m smiling now, just thinking about those faces, those toes, and those teeny, tiny fists. We also attended a beautiful hill country wedding where we celebrated the forever love of two amazing people. From where we sat, Mike and I had the joy of knowing what great things were ahead for both couples. Celebrating milestones with people we love is a very special kind of adventure.
Put it on the Calendar
If you’re the paralysis-from-analysis type, pick something new to do and add it to your calendar right away. Arrange for the time off from work, then start researching the trip. While this may seem like an illogical flip-flop, putting it in your planner first will help you avoid fretting until it never happens.
Encouraging an everyday life filled with intentional adventure, and a one-up on your scale,
Here are a few other posts you might enjoy:
