What does living adventurously mean to you?
I had the absolute pleasure last summer to meet the inspiring adventurer and writer Alastair Humphreys to talk about what living adventurously means to me (you can find out more about him here, he's a truly wonderful human being).
You can listen to our chat here or here.
In our chat Alastair asked me a question I pondered for weeks after.
He asked me whether I joined the Royal Navy for an adventure?
And yes, for those that don't know I went into the Royal Navy straight from University.
(It was an admittedly odd choice for someone who gets sea sick on a ferry, who's never ever liked taking direction and for someone who’s fiercely independent).
What it made me really think about was, why did I join?
And my honest answer is that I joined not because I was seeking adventure, but because I was craving certainty.
I was looking for confidence and conviction and I thought the way to find it was through being part of something bigger than me.
I thought the Royal Navy would provide me with a structure and an established route to living a good and meaningful life.
What I've discovered though in the 20+ years since I left is that there's very little, if any, certainty in life.
There never is.
Well, not the kind of certainty I was looking for anyway.
What the last 10 years of being adventurous in my own thinking has given me is far more valuable though:
I've developed an unshakeable and grounded confidence in my own ability to think through whatever life throws at me.
I know I've got choice.
That I get to decide where I focus my love, my attention and my time and that these 3 things are the most valuable commodities I have.
I get to live with an open heart and an open mind.
And that ultimately I know my external life can only ever be a reflection for who I am and how I'm feeling inside.
I'm responsible for the quality of my life, my health, my work and my relationships.
If I want to change or improve any of these things I first need to make time to think afresh about them and then remove my own untrue and limiting assumptions.
My explorations in thinking, have allowed me to live a life which I find unusual, exciting and daring. The very definition of living adventurously.
So, my wish for all of us is not a life of certainty, but one of possibility.
Of being able to keep our minds and hearts open.
Of allowing the mystery and the uncertainty in.
Of consciously choosing to create lives we love.
“If you knew that there isn’t a specific step by step plan for your life, you get to choose it, and it’s never too late, what would you begin choosing?”
I really would love to know, so please drop me a line, I’d love to be part of your adventure in thinking.