My wife and I have put together what we hope will be a fun trip for our family. We’re going to take the train down to Washington, DC so the kids can experience travelling by train for a good distance. Then, we’ll spend a few days in the city, and then fly back.
It involves a fair amount of switching from transit methods (for instance, we’re taking the local commuter rail down to New York City, then the subway over to a separate station where we get onto Amtrak). On the way back, once we return to New York, we have to take the airport tram to the commuter rail to the subway to the commuter rail. When I explained this trip to my parents, they smiled and said, “It will definitely be an adventure.”
And neither my wife nor I are dissuaded from taking the trip due to the “adventure” it entails. In fact, in all facets of life, I believe in the value of adventure, and the need for us to explore, whether it be entirely new places and spaces, or the same locations, but through a different lens.
We can see the value of this in both our professional and our personal lives. Many times, we come across opportunities to explore different things, whether they be ideas, positions/roles, or relationships with those we serve. We always have a choice: we can choose to not engage in an adventure that could be great, or not so. Or, we can take the risk, and give it a go. I’m a firm believer that taking that risk, embarking on that adventure, is infinitely more beneficial (and interesting) than not. And, because everyone’s threshold of risk is different, we might find that we’re more likely to explore a common idea through a new lens, than embark on a totally different path. And that’s great too.
The key, or so I’ve learned, is that we have to engage in some adventure in our lives. Otherwise, the color of our world becomes more muted and grey. When we know things too well, too often, we miss out on the emotions of surprise and awe that are so important for continuous learning.