What is the last time you tried something new? This sentence is hung on
my bedroom door. As a child, the answer was a simple one...generally it
was a day or even a few hours, but now I have to really think about it.
We had a talk by Fr. Searby this year where he suggested that the source
of the hook-up and drinking culture is a lack of adventure. People don't
know what to do on a Saturday night so they end up defaulting to the normal
routine. But when did we lose that willingness to try new things?
As kids, the world is ours to explore. Things as small as crossing
a bridge brought so much excitement. But around 11 or 12yrs old, I started
wanting to become more of a grown up. I wanted to use more technology and to
become more serious. You have friends over and you feel silly running through
the woods together looking for pirates and we forget that there are other ways
to explore. We become businesslike adults to survive in the working
world, but that urge for excitement never leaves.
We have now grown into a generation of viewers not participants in
adventures. We sit for hours scrolling through Pintrest or watching
discovery channel because somewhere out there are people who are having
their own adventures. We complain that we don't have enough money to
travel, and then we content ourselves with buying high definition screens and
faster internet speeds. Our world has become so open to us with faster easier ways to
travel, but we have become closed to it because having an adventure is a
little too scary and new.
So what can we do about this? How can we change
our midset? Start by challenging yourself to do something new each day. It can
be as small as putting a new outfit combination together, driving down a new road,
putting something different on your sandwich, or listening to a new song.
Put a piece of paper on the fridge and write down the new thing for the
day. If you have a family or housemates challenge them to do the same and
ask about it each night. Then start seeing things as an adventure. Take a
shower in the dark; light candles at dinner; make an interesting dinner;
try an exotic fruit from the grocery store; go on a picnic; Anything! Just
get up and do it!
