20th June 2019
The last 4 weeks have been busy. Here’s a thought that’s gone through my head.
“Adventure is a venture with adversity”
Adversity has been on my mind for the last few weeks. I celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary which certainly has had it’s share of adversity and risk with a few moves, (including one from the UK to Canada), job switches and 3 kids. We also had to make the decision to put our family dog down, she’d been with us almost as long as we’d been married.
I also organized a local Wellness in the Workplace event for my company which was 8 weeks of planning, and organizing but that went well in the end, and also had it’s share of adversity!
I have also been on a camping/motorbike trip from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island to Crater Lake in the south of Oregon, and I had been training for a 50km mountain bike race. Neither the motorbike nor the mountain biking adventures quite panned out as planned. There was adversity in both (including a disqualification from the race!).
Then there’s the challenge of opting to start my own business www.carbonsafety.ca which has certainly been challenging, and had it’s share of adversity, and I’m not even one year in yet!
So with so much going on, and a fair dose of adversity recently, the reflection for me over the last few weeks has definitely been, why do I do this to myself? Why do I seek challenges, and adventures instead of just being comfortable? Why do I so often choose the road less traveled?
I had a thought go through my head over and over as I was travelling over a mountain pass in the Cascade mountains of Oregon into Washington in near 0 with snow on the side of the glacial lake I was passing, with rain starting to fall, there was one recurring thought going through my head over and over “Adventure is a venture with adversity”.
Choosing a venture of some description is easy, we all do it frequently. I think it’s when that venture becomes challenging that it becomes an adventure. Reflecting on some of my life choices, I certainly seem to like adventure. I suppose if adventures were easy, everyone would do them, and that fact that not everyone does choose adventure is what makes adventures novel.
Whether it’s career choices, business decisions, or the pursuit of fun and excitement, I guess for some of us, the ventures we choose are familiar, comfortable, and quantifiable. While for others we’re always going to want to know what’s behind door number 3, and be willing to take that risk, and accept the potential for more adversity on that venture.
Perhaps we choose ventures with the chance for adversity because of an eternal quest for knowledge. Perhaps it awakens certain feelings, and emotions that we don’t get in our day to day. Maybe it’s because we feel like it makes us stronger, much like metal forged in fire. Maybe it’s just in our DNA. Maybe we’ll never know!
Adventure is addictive, and risky, and also a tremendous educator. Be safe in your ventures, and don’t be afraid of a little adversity, it might be the source of a great adventure.
Posted in: Safety Blog
+1 250 734 1373
info@carbonsafety.ca