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Rule #72 is taken from a quote by mountaineer, climbing guide, and Mount Everest summiter, John Amatt. In full, the quote states;
“Adventure isn’t hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life.”
Awhile back, I wrote a post questioning if every day can be an adventure. I concluded that yes, every day can be an adventure, but it requires us to be introspective in regards to what we think adventure is. If you’d like everything to be adrenaline-fueled races to summits I fear you’re going to be disappointed, no matter what you do.
I’m friends with a wide variety of people; doctors, lawyers, personal trainers, nomads, vagabonds, and other lovable weirdos that don’t have careers but work when they need to in order to keep living. Regardless of whether you spend forty hours a week in an office or live in a van, you still have to wash your dishes. We all have chores.
That’s where the explorer’s mind comes in. If we look at our lives as a series of things that we have to do between short bouts of fun stuff that we want to do, we’re in for a long haul. But if we shift our attitude, things really change.
I’m never going to enjoy washing dishes, but I do enjoy cooking and eating. Cleaning up is just part of that deal. If I look at it as one small part of something that I do enjoy, instead of a separate pain in the ass chore, it doesn’t bother me. In fact, I’m glad to do it, because it means I get to sling dough onto the pizza stone, or layer ratatouille in the cast iron.
Life is much the same way. If you look at the tasks that you must complete as just a small part of the overall adventure that is your life, they’re not so bad. It’s our attitude that makes the good stuff worthwhile and the chores manageable. So, are you going to have an adventurer’s attitude?