Adventures

Life is a precious gift filled with opportunities for adventures both great and small. I encourage you to adventure, to look for the blessings of life all around you and to partake, to explore, to experiment, and to discover. Adventures don’t only lie in distant and far places. They can be as close as a book on your shelf or in your own backyard. Adventures can take years to fulfill like embarking on an Everest expedition or can pass in moments like encountering a deer in the woods. Life is a journey and as such, there are many adventures along the way. Keep your eyes and heart open for adventures that tug at your heartstrings.

The best part about life is the journey of our hearts, and the things that both fill our hearts and move our hearts. Some adventures will be simple experiments and experiences, nothing more and nothing less. And those have their place. Other adventures will be watershed moments that confirm who we are and confirm what we love and what our lives should be about. We are never quite sure when such moments will come. However, to have them, we must adventure. I encourage you to keep exploring. I encourage you to have the heart of an adventurer and to approach each day as a gift to be received, opened and explored.

A tool that has been helpful for me to keep a heart of adventure and an eye for exploration is a bucket list. Years ago I sat down one afternoon and made a list of over 100 things I wanted to do before I kicked the bucket. I have updated my list from time to time, adding new items and removing some for which I have lost interest. But what a joy it is to review the list and to strike through those that I have been able to accomplish. My list includes places to visit, books to read, it includes goals related to my health, family, friendships, and spiritual life, as well as educational and financial achievements. Since bucket lists are very personal I won’t include the entire list here. Instead, here are a few of the items on my list that may assist and inspire you in getting started with a bucket list of your own.

My list includes:

Visit Israel
Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef
Take an incredible hike
Visit New Zealand
Write a book
Learn to dance
Have more dedicated times of prayer
Communicate more clearly
See James Taylor in concert, again
Help lead a fellowship of believers

Happy Adventuring!