Adventure Is Out There!

Adventure is out there!

You could definitely say that has been the theme of my summer. And let me tell you. It’s been one hell of a summer.

I’ve never been a big fan of summer, to be honest. It was mostly just a time full of too much time and too little to do. There was a lot of sitting at home alone. And yes, I am fully aware of how pathetic that sounds. The past is the past. And embarrassing, joyful, painful or surprising, it must be shared.

The last two summers had been especially miserable. Full of fighting. Full of pain. Just another season of life to dread rather than treasure. Another aspect of my life I don’t enjoy reliving or sharing.

This summer, however. How do I put it into words? I remember sitting in the sunshine on a park bench, eating gelato with this boy. This boy I’ve been crazy about for almost two years, this boy I am now absolutely in love with. This boy who turned out to be so much more than I ever dreamed someone could be. And as I sat next to him, drinking in the sunshine, the first hints of South Dakota summer, I simply said, “I want to go on an adventure.”

And so we did.

I went on an adventure with my best friend.

And that one day began a summer full of adventure.

We seized every moment. Whenever we wanted an adventure, we sought it out. We chased life and found it. Found joy, laughter, perhaps even love? We found it in these moments of courage to choose. To choose a life that means more than what we have always known, always done, always expected of ourselves.

We were new. Life lay before us as a new creation, a new opportunity to make something that we had never had. And that was best friendship. Best friendship that gave us the courage to face each new adventure with a smile and to create memories that I will truly never forget.

Moments in time. Beautiful, beautiful moments in time.

Rain on our faces, sunshine on our backs, wind whipping around us. Conversations. Courage. Growth. Love. This has been my summer. All because we chose to seek adventure. To have courage, my dear heart.

But now the summer is drawing to a close.

And now life becomes frighteningly real.

It brings up fears. Fears like, what if this was just a summer romance? What if, now that life once again becomes frighteningly busy, overwhelmingly stressful, we will simply fall apart? Our simple joy, our constant laughter, will give way to bitter sarcasm and angry exchanges, and suddenly… what seemed so perfect will be gone.

No more adventure.

I was thinking about all these things yesterday as I had a mini-pre-schoolyear-meltdown. All the stress of return to real life was closing in on me and I was struck with the urge to run. There are moments in my life where I simply cannot handle things. I can’t even think. All I can do is run. I can’t handle things anymore. I’m just done.

Yesterday was one of those moments. I came very close to trying to run away.

But as I considered how to drop off the face of the earth and escape my problems, I was struck with a thought.

Adventure is not what you think it is. Adventure is so much more than what you have defined it as. And right now, you are facing the greatest adventure yet.

Because you see, the best kind of adventure terrifies you. It shakes you to the core of your being, challenges you beyond what you ever thought possible. It seizes you by the heart and never leaves you the same again. To adventure is to risk all that you are, all that you know.

But it is to say that in the end, it will all be worth it. It is to trust that you will come out on the other side a better, more complete person than who you were before. It is risk. Terror. It takes courage. Trust. You will never be the same again. You will come back changed. Scarred.

Is it worth it?

Or will you run away from adventure? Curl up in your hobbit-hole, content to never leave the Shire, never experience the great, terrifying world beyond the borders of what you have always known, always been.

I’ve been fascinated lately with the concept of how we are meant to live. Not how we live right now, but how we were intended by God to live. After all, He created us and decided that it was somehow best for us to live out our lives on this earth. So He must have something spectacular in store for us to make it worth it.

I am now convinced that includes adventure. The terrifying, risk-taking, life-changing kind of adventure.

So what does that look like for me? It looks like not running away. It looks like running straight to the people I love most, straight to the people I’m terrified I will lose. It means facing my fears head on and having the courage to say, I want to run, but I’m here. I’m running to you. And I’m staying with you, through everything. It means trusting that in the end, it will all be worth it. That the journey will change me for the better.

Because you see, the comforting thing for me is that you never adventure alone. Well, to be honest, that’s the scariest and most comforting thing. Because I’m still afraid of the journey. I’m still afraid that it will simply too much, even for the best of adventurers.

But adventure lies before us. The terrifying kind of adventure. And we never adventure alone. We have hope, a hope that says no, things may not be alright. They may not be easy or simply or even pleasant at times. But I put you on this earth for a reason, for living, for adventuring. And I gave you each other to help you adventure. Help you live. So trust me, trust each other. And live.

Adventure is out there!