The Power of Adventure
Most of us don’t incorporate much adventure into our lifestyles. Life is steady, predictable, and comfortable. We avoid risk and discomfort. We defer our dreams. And in doing so, we settle for less than what life would offer.How do we get more out of life?We get more by choosing adventure.Throughout the course of history there has never been a time when living comfortably was accessible to so many people. The standard of living for many people, even on the low end, has been elevated significantly.While this shift is great for many obvious reasons, it has some significant drawbacks. It’s not healthy for people to have a life with too much comfort and ease, especially for young people who need to develop character, who need to learn resiliency, how to work hard and solve problems, to learn leadership and self-sufficiency.We tend to latch onto a job for the benefits and the lifestyle it can afford us, whether we actually care about the job or not. We are conditioned to be as risk-averse as possible. We choose steady and predictable over unknown paths with high payoffs and possible failure.That is why we need to choose more adventure in our lives. What is adventure?
Adventure is going into the unknown, where physical and emotional trials await.
There is an element of adventure that means entering physical spaces that are wild and untamed; climbing glacier-covered mountains and exploring canyons in the desert.But adventure is also entering into the unknown with life; the places where we risk ourselves in the pursuit of something meaningful.The way of adventure is timeless. It’s something we recognize in the great movies and books, where heroes must go on a journey. But adventure isn’t just for books and movies. We all feel it calling to us somewhere along the line of life, opportunities that stir our hearts, choices that scare us.We need to choose adventure. We need to choose adventure because adventure has the power to transform us. You grow and become better through adventure.Adventure is a vehicle to personal growth because it challenges us and forces us to dig deeper into ourselves. Things go wrong and plans blow up. And we must react and adapt.
Adventure makes us more resilient to life’s difficulties.
A few years ago I worked in wilderness therapy, working alongside young adults dealing with addiction and behavioral issues. Many of the people I worked with had developed unhealthy coping mechanisms (such as drug use). Whenever a challenge of any degree in life presented itself, clients would revert to unhealthy behaviors rather than learn to deal with the actual problem at hand.Wilderness was an incredibly effective place for people dealing with issues because eventually, the client had to face their problems head on. It’s amazing what facing a blizzard will bring up for people. There’s no way to avoid or manipulate a blizzard when you are backpacking for three months straight. They had to learn to cope in healthy ways.
Not only did clients have to face their problems. They learned that they were more capable than they had previously though. Clients who had never camped before learned they could hike ten miles with everything they need on their back. They learned how to start a fire with without matches or a lighter. They learned how to prepare their own meals, cooking over the fire they built.This changed their self-perception. They found inner strength. And the next time a problem arose, they had a little more confidence in their capabilities. They had become more resilient.Travel has been a big part of my life. After I graduated college I spent a year traveling the globe. A few years later I spent six months backpacking across Europe. And just a few years ago, I traveled the Andes by myself for seven months. The thing I love about travel is that I am constantly outside my comfort zone. Maybe I don’t know what’s going on because of a language barrier, or there’s a cultural gap and I’m clueless to norms and expectations. But these experiences are incredibly helpful for personal growth. Through travel I am forced to become comfortable in new surroundings while solving transportation or lodging logistics and making friends.
The newness and strangeness of travel keeps me on my toes. Travel teaches me resiliency and problems solving. These are skills that are incredibly useful and transferable. And having these skills makes me feel like I can navigate new arenas in life, and that I will figure out whatever problems arise and I will be okay at the end of the day.Adventure teaches us what we really need. When all your possessions fit in a backpack and you find you are still happy, it readjusts how you live. You learn you can live on a lot less. You learn to live simply, and be just as happy (if not more so) than when you have every comfort and amenity in the world.
Adventure teaches us to make decisions that are not based on fear.
Many people make choices where fear (often irrational fear) is given too much sway. It’s a human tendency to avoid unwanted outcomes, even if the possibility of that outcome is low. Often this comes at the expense of a possible high-upside reward. It’s why so many people remain in jobs they hate. They’d rather avoid the possible outcome of being unable to make ends meet (even though that would likely be a temporary situation), rather than pursue the thing they daydream about (where the result would be long-term fulfillment). It’s why so few people actually start a business or travel the world before retirement. They make decisions based off avoiding something they fear.Unfortunately, this has an accumulative effect that often keeps us from living lives that truly excite us and fulfill us.Adventure helps teach us to assess our fears, and to move through our fears. Maybe it’s learning to lead climb and pushing through the fear of falling. Maybe it’s traveling the world in your thirties despite your fear you will permanently damage your career. Maybe it’s writing that book and putting your work in front of peers and family members despite the fear that others will laugh or judge your work (and you) harshly.
Through adventure we can find inner healing.
Six years ago I got divorced. I was in rough shape emotionally. Immediately following my divorce, I moved to Utah and took a job as a guide in wilderness therapy. And I spent most my time off work canyoneering, or climbing, or hiking, or camping. This time in life was incredibly powerful for me. I worked with clients who needed therapy. But I was in just as much need of therapy myself. Wilderness and adventure provided that therapy.In the same way I mentioned that clients found their inner strength, I needed to do the same thing. I was feeling lost and broken. And in this unconventional setting of working as a backpacking guide for misfits, I tested my own resolve and strength, and found I had much more than previously thought.I regained confidence. I began pursuing a career in photography and film in my spare time. I gained understanding of my own psychology. And I found a drive to live a life that put fulfillment before income or comfort.I learned that I could be comfortable and happy living out of a backpack, sleeping in a sleeping bag on the dirt. This freed me up to pursue my dream career because the fear of being broke scared me much less than the fear of living a life I was not passionate about.Adventure is a tool we can use in our lives to stimulate personal growth, to find and grow our strength, and to live the best versions of ourselves. By choosing to incorporate adventure and doing things that scare us or pursue things we dream about, we access greater depths of ourselves.And ultimately, we can live more fulfilling lives. So today, tomorrow, and beyond, choose adventure.