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Wednesday, April 10, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Are you living an adventure-starved life?
By Vella Mbenna
Guest Columnist
Have you fallen into a rou-
tine of drudgery? Do you feel
stuck there? You9re not alone.
If we9re honest, many of us
will admit that we9re kind of
going through the motions 4
work, home, eat, TV, sleep,
repeat4and living by default
instead of design. Life isn9t
bad; it9s just dull. Uninspired.
Actually (and ironically), a
bit lifeless. We shouldn9t just
accept our adventure-starved
status quo.
Life is meant to be really
lived. I9ve come to believe
adventure is a deep human
need. We read about it in
books and we watch it in
movies because deep down
we crave it.
And we owe it to our-
selves to pursue things that
give us that spark, that jolt of
excitement. It doesn9t mat-
ter how old you are or what
your income is. You can and
should weave some adventure
into your life.
Growing up in rural
Georgia, I dreamed of travel
and excitement. But after
college I found myself
broke, divorced, and strug-
gling to raise my child alone.
All that changed when I
joined the Foreign Service
and embarked on a 26-year
adventure in which I lived in
dangerous parts of the world,
performed high-stakes diplo-
matic work, and defended my
country in the wake of deadly
terrorist attacks. My career
provided the adventure I had
always craved.
If you, too, feel adventure-
starved, don9t worry. There
are plenty of small ways to
infuse totally ordinary days
with life-shifting excitement
4 and it doesn9t require a
globetrotting career or a big
budget. Follow these tips to
create the adventurous life
you9re dreaming of.
First, commit to a self-
imposed TV or social media
ban. Before you can start your
adventures, you need to stop
doing the stuff that sucks up all
your free time and keeps you
in a state of lethargy. When
turning on the TV or brows-
ing Facebook is no longer an
option, you9ll have to fill up
your time with something.
If nothing else, boredom
will push you out the door.
Force yourself to do some-
thing that scares (yet excites)
you. You9ll never reach your
full potential by living small.
So take a risk and challenge
yourself to step outside your
comfort zone and do some
things that intimidate you.
Start training for a marathon
or sign up to be a foster par-
ent or go for that promo-
tion at work or even start the
business you9ve daydreamed
about for years. When you
challenge yourself, you9ll
truly find out what you9re
made of.
It9s OK to start by taking
small risks. If you9re nor-
mally silent in a meeting,
speak up. Or if you9re get-
ting over a painful breakup,
join an online dating service.
The idea is to practice leaving
your comfort zone in small
degrees, until you9re ready to
make a bigger leap.
Take a class or learn a
new skill. Learning shouldn9t
end once you9ve left school.
Exploring our interests is
what keeps us alive. You
might take a coding class,
or learn to speak Russian, or
learn how to scuba dive. The
learning itself is an adven-
ture, and so are the activities
that naturally flow from that
learning4the trips you go
on to speak the new language
you learn and the events that
pop up when you meet new
people in the classes you take.
Plan frequent mini-adven-
tures... When you need to
shake things up a bit, choose
a destination you9ve never
visited within 100 miles
of where you live and take
a day-long road trip with
your friends or family. This
quenches your wanderlust
without breaking the bank...
and budget for a great trip. If
you dream of traveling to the
exotic locales you9ve seen
only in photographs, you can
absolutely make it a reality
someday. Start an <adven-
ture fund= by putting a small
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are for trying new things, tak-
ing day trips, attending local
festivals. If your spouse or
partner doesn9t want to get
out, grab the kids or a girl-
friend and just go.
Get outdoors every chance
you get. There9s a reason we
associate <adventure= with the
great outdoors. That9s where
the mountains and oceans
and rivers are. It9s where you
get to camp under the stars or
navigate whitewater rapids or
hike dark, wooded paths to
the top of hills to see the sun-
rise. It9s also where you might
get caught in a thunderstorm
or encounter a snake 4 and
that9s part of the adventure
equation, too.
Being out in nature is a lit-
tle risky. That9s good, though.
It9s hard to be adventurous
inside four climate-controlled
walls.
Find novel ways to cel-
ebrate your milestones. Big
achievements4like promo-
tions, anniversaries, gradu-
ations, or even birthdays4
deserve thoughtful com-
memorations. Celebrate them
by doing something you9ve
never done before. You don9t
have to go skydiving on your
50th birthday 4 unless you
really want to 4but you
could go ziplining or save up
for a trip to Costa Rica.
Instill curiosity and won-
der in your kids. You can
teach your kids to enjoy an
adventurous life by exposing
them to the world from an
early age. Take them with you
when you travel, introduce
them to other cultures and
unusual foods, and challenge
them to be brave even when it
feels uncomfortable to do so.
You really get out of life
what you put into it. So if
you9re stuck in a life that9s
underwhelming, it9s up to you
to shake things up. It9s never
too late to infuse your one and
only life with great adventure.
And the passion, excitement,
and joy that you discover
along the way will make any
temporary discomfort you
feel well worth it in the end.
Vella Mbenna is the author
of Muddy Roads Blue Skies:
My Journey to the Foreign
Service, from the Rural South
to Tanzania and Beyond.
For more information,
visit vellambenna.com.
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Expand your circle. It9s
fine to socialize with a core
group of friends most of the
time, but don9t close yourself
off from meeting new people.
You never know how a new
friendship or relationship
could transform your life. So,
go to a meet up group that
interests you or join a sports
league or running club as a
way to socialize and have fun
with new people.
Say yes to every invita-
tion that you possibly can.
As you start meeting new
people, they9ll invite you to
do things. Maybe they9ll ask
you to be on a committee or
join them in a fundraising
effort. Hopefully the events
themselves will be exciting,
but they will also lead you to
meet new people who, in turn,
may invite you to do other
things.
Don9t waste the weekends.
Yes, you9re exhausted after
the work week. I get it. But if
you9re not careful, you9ll go
into crash mode and squander
the weekend <recuperating.=
Don9t. Napping all weekend
isn9t rejuvenating, anyway.
Ever noticed how sluggish it
makes you feel?
Plan ahead so that there9s
a mini-adventure scheduled
into every weekend. Be inten-
tional about how you spend
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