Adventuring

There is something amazing about adventures.  It all starts with a desire to see the world, experience something new or push yourself to accomplish something you never thought you could.  Some planning may be useful, but spontaneity is nice too.  Most of all, you have to convince yourself that everything you will learn from the adventure will outweigh the risks.  I call this the sanity check.  But most awesome ideas should pass the sanity check and leave you even more excited.  Being scared is ok, but not an excuse for the adventure to not happen.  Embrace your fear! Recognize it and keep going.  The way I see it, the day you let your fears prevent you from doing things you desire is the day that you are no longer living life to its fullest.

Today, I spent over an hour standing at the edge of a splintery beam 30 feet above the Charles River contemplating the jump.  My nerves were overwhelming, and it seemed nothing I could do could quench them.  Somehow, staring into the depths of the river made the water seem closer.  I convinced myself that it would be over in less than a second, and finally I did it.  The moment my knees bent and I pushed off the beam was the moment I will remember most.  I knew that I had to jump, for myself.  The anxiety had built up so much, and I would not be satisfied with leaving that bridge without jumping.  After I jumped and hit the water, I felt an immense release of tension.  The whole world was a little lighter and more colorful, and I was beaming with joy.  I absolutely love that state of mind, and that is why I love adventuring.  I learned a lot today, and none of it is tangible, or even easily explained.  Once you do things like this, you just know.

I think that everyday you should do something that scares you.  Do something that is uncomfortable, that isn't easy.  Adventures don't always end the way they were intended to, but they are most always worthwhile.  Life is to short to spend time worrying about little things and to-do lists.  As a good friend said today, you will never remember a problem-set you did in college but you will always remember bridge jumping on a hot day in April.