I never had the opportunity to travel as a child. As an adult, I craved travel, change, excitement of any kind. I hated boredom, for me it led to depression and so I was always trying to keep that at bay. I remember telling the lady who babysat the boys (I went back to work part time, to fund my hiking adventures) about whatever adventure I was dreaming of, and she said to me "You have the worst case of wanderlust I have ever seen". That was the first time I had heard that word and I owned it with pride.
......Wanderlust.......
My travels with O were adventurous and nerve wracking. This was before the internet and maps on our phones, we had a rental car and a rental car map and tried to navigate our way through numerous locales. Our hilarious habit would be to stop at a gas station and ask "what town is this?" (We really didn't know where we were)
I wonder how we ever got anywhere in hindsight. But these are what adventures are made of.....oh the fun we'd have......how alive we felt....
When I met Lifepartner, we traveled like the world was about to end. It was a thirst that we both had, we had the money and time to do it, so with a fury, we dreamed, planned and executed travel itineraries fit for the amazing race. We didn't know it at the time, but again, upon reflection, our whole beings came alive. Our souls were awake and having fun, and even the flight delays didn't seem like delays, but a chance to wander a foreign airport and people watch.
The lesson today, the power of risk, asks us to shed the false sense of security that we are tempted to hold on to. Like the story about our too small shoes that we wear because they are predictable. Staying home because of our comfy bed or our familiar things, or we'll miss the kids too much....Sticking to old routines refusing to, or being too scared do anything differently than yesterday, bores and starves our soul. It will curl up in the fetal position on the couch and die.
Living things must grow or ....die. Growth can be uncomfortable, yes, but the misery of a dead soul is worse.
Our soul is creative, alive and playful.
We must take risks, every day of our lives.
The good news is we needn't travel the world to experience this change and take risks. It's as simple as joining a new gym, hiring a new trainer, taking a dance class or having coffee with a new friend.
If fear is an issue, if you are too scared to do something new, to take a risk, get on a plane, take a course, get a new job, have a baby; remember that anything worth doing will have some fear attached to it. Those butterflies in our stomach, notify us we are indeed standing at the edge of our comfort zone, between our old life and a new one; between a bored, dying soul and one that is coming alive......
Yoga Teacher loves this quote....
Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because the world needs people who have come fully alive. - Howard Thurman
