Choose Your Own Adventure...

I read many of these books in my childhood, but I don't ever remember really loving them.  Perhaps it's because I always cheated or was never quite satisfied to follow just one path.  I needed to know the big picture before I could completely jump in and enjoy the story.  I guess it's still true today.  Generally while reading, when I come to a particularly suspenseful section, I'll peek at the resolution to satisfy my anxiety before I can really enjoy the story.  I'll let you decide what kind of personality deficiencies that indicates, but the point is that I like to have the big picture.

This may all seem a little random, but I was writing some correspondence today and in each the term 'adventure' was mentioned.  It got me thinking about adventure and what that really means.  Certainly my move to Ketchikan is by very definition an adventure.  It has absolutely been an exciting and unusual experience.  At the same time, however, it's just life.  I work, clean, commute just the same as before.  Even most of my hobbies have remained the same.  I do go for walks along the ocean instead of in town, which is pretty much the coolest thing in the world, but other than that life is just life.  Before leaving I had several people mention that they wish they could just up and leave on their own adventures, as if this journey for me was going to be some sort of exotic and magical venture into a whole new world.  I won't deny that the landscape here is quite magical, and in fact, I would never say that this is not an adventure, but can't life anywhere be considered an adventure?

I think the biggest thing about a move like this that makes it an adventure is the simple fact that it's new.  It's a step out of my comfort zone and away from the patterns that I had established.  I am now forced to do things that I might not normally do because I need to meet new people and discover where I fit in this new town.  It seems like each week I've met some new and interesting people, primarily because the choices are to live a life of solitude or be more outgoing than might come naturally.  The former is really not even a little bit appealing to me, so outgoing it is.  And not once have I regretted the decision to put myself out there.  

I guess a move to Alaska is always going to seem like an adventure from the outside, even if it's just life.  But if there's anything I've realized on this particular adventure it's that I don't ever want to run out of adventures.  I may not always be moving to new and exotic places, but I hope that I never get so complacent with my life that I stop challenging myself, trying new things, and meeting new people.  Even in the most ordinary of jobs in the most ordinary of places, there are adventures to be had.  It's all about learning, growing, and taking chances that you might not normally take.  So today I dare you to act on your whim, introduce yourself, turn when you feel like it, and choose your own adventure.