A wise-beyond-her-years college student at a local university perpetually reached out and took adventure by the hand in every opportunity she possessed. Carrying her discerning yet sprightly personality, she altered a small lacking town to accommodate her youth and constant wonder. This wonder was vivid, the kind of person with whom anyone can connect. So vivid and connectable, recognizing her spirit’s outlook on adventure would only take a few minutes from a stranger’s perspective. Looking up to someone as eager to engage in a constant state of interest as I’d like to be, our conversations sparked notable differences in a real hunger for excitement in everyday life and mere wishful daydreaming of that excitement. “You can find adventure anywhere,” she told me. All there is to do is accept opportunities.
Thinking back, there are so many circumstances when opportunity landed on me like a passing butterfly. Hey, do you want to… Sometime we should… These phrases created immediate anticipation, but there’s a problem. Too often, I stare at the butterfly for a while until it flies away, taking opportunity with it, instead of chasing, running, and jumping without hesitation.
By following through with grey opportunity — knowing so many times open invitations lead to, well, nothing — the sprightly wonder for adventure so many of us crave to possess may creep in, sprouting an optimism about opportunity and decaying the fears and nerves of unknown adventure.
Because the truth is, it’s more than easy to be stagnant and pretty comfortable. We end up looking at those who surf for adventurous opportunity as brave and their lives as intangible compared to the seated lives in which we sometimes get stuck. Waking up and allowing for nameless explorations when possible creates for reminiscent nights, many of which I have shared looking up to bright-eyed friends with a love for opportunity. It’s out there. It’s waiting for you.
Only one more question remains: What will you do today?