ADVENTITUDE

What is adventure?  Well, what do you want it to be? I feel that when most people think of adventure, they picture some over-the-top, grandiose, once-in-a-lifetime experience that gets the adrenaline pumping. Those are definitely adventures, but not the only kind. My definition of an adventure is something that excites you, something that you’ve never done before, something you’ve done before and want to do over and over again, something that challenges you, something that puts a smile on your face. You see, there isn’t one right definition of adventure… it’s whatever you make of it, whatever you want it to be. 

Behind all these different experiences lies the decision to do them. I think of adventure as more of a mindset and an attitude than an experience, an ADVENTITUDE. Don’t get me wrong, the experience is still very important, but you had to have first made the decision to engage in the experience. 

Another valuable component to the adventitude mindset is what you learn from the adventure. I believe there is a purpose behind everything we do, whether we realize it or not. Was it a Cheryl Strayed “Wild” life-altering adventure? Did you jump out of a perfectly good airplane even though you’re afraid of heights, yet feel the need to do it again? Were you finally able to speak up at your work meeting, only to feel relief and confidence to share your ideas again? Have you encountered that scary tarantula on a desert hike only to solidify your fear of spiders? Was your passport stolen the night before your trip to Thailand, but you went anyway? (true story, and one for another day) We make memories by doing things. And if you can attach life lessons to those experiences, even better. Your adventitude impacts how you experience your adventures. First you make the choice, then you learn from it. Obviously, it’s more cut and dried than that, but hopefully you get the idea. If you’re not only willing to engage in an experience, but to reflect on and understand what that experience has done for you, then you’ve got the right idea of a positive adventitude. And a positive adventitude makes for a better life adventure. And, afterall, life is the ultimate adventure.  

Safe adventures,

Kelly