When the airplane my husband and I were traveling on to Haiti suddenly aborted the landing upon touch down on the small island, it was a moment of epiphany for me. Even while still in the air, the plane rocking violently, lights going off and on, and not knowing whether I would live or die, I had this defiant thought: I would rather die doing what I was meant to do than sit on the sidelines of life wasting away, not truly living at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And make no mistake: I am no daredevil. Risk is not my middle name. And adventure is something I never associated with my personality. I\u2019m an introvert by nature and prefer to have all my ducks in a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That transitional word, however, brought transition itself to first, my own thinking and secondly, to my actual living. Why? Because the older I got, the more I realized that I wasn\u2019t truly living; I was just existing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And here\u2019s the thing beneath the thing: anything out of the ordinary can be classified as an adventure. I don\u2019t have to climb Mount Everest to call it an adventure. Therefore, adventure can be a daily thing. All I really need is the willingness to try new things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some characteristics of adventure include action, challenge, thrill, mystery, uncertainty, and excitement. When I think of these words linked to adventure, I am reminded of the words passionately spoken by the woman playing Amelia Earhart in the movie Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: \u201cI smell adventure, and damn it, I want in!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So do I. I hope you do too. Because what I\u2019ve come to discover is that there are benefits to embracing adventure. Here are just seven:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reduces stress<\/strong> Conquers fear<\/strong> Sparks creative thinking<\/strong> Provides natural exercise<\/strong> Learn new skills<\/strong> Refreshes your soul<\/strong> Gain confidence<\/strong> Every new adventure keeps life interesting. Dare to test and challenge yourself. Take a leap into the unknown\u2026there\u2019s nothing more exciting than a good old-fashioned adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SIDEBAR<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things I\u2019ve experienced on my adventures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n *A baby killdeer finding protection beneath its mother, who then proceeded to gently sit down on her little one until it could no longer be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *An eagle soaring at the lake with its \u201ccatch of the day\u201d grasped firmly with its talons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *A dolphin swimming near our boat at Chincoteague Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *A female mallard duck with all 12 of her little babies waddling across the road as we were on our way to our next adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Razor rental riding in Tennessee and spotting several black bears on our ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *The abject poverty and the breathtaking beauty of Haiti on the same day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Peace amid uncertainty, a love for life, and a desire for more adventure.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When the airplane my husband and I were traveling on to Haiti suddenly aborted the landing upon touch down on the small island, it was a moment of epiphany for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21533,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_gspb_post_css":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"essay_type":[46],"essay-category":[91],"class_list":["post-21211","essay","type-essay","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","essay_type-features","essay-category-health-beauty"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/21211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/essay"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/21211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"essay_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay_type?post=21211"},{"taxonomy":"essay-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay-category?post=21211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I\u2019ve discovered experientially that nature excursions can reduce stress levels within moments of heading outdoors. Whatever adventure I\u2019m on, I always return with a more positive mood, refreshed, and reenergized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adventure requires a measure of healthy risk-taking, which increases your self-awareness and trains you to face life head-on. As you get out of your comfort zone, you begin to develop determination and learn to \u201cdo it afraid.\u201d Start with mini-challenges or dive right in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you challenge yourself in new ways, your problem-solving skills are sharpened. Adventure often requires that you see things from a different perspective, which sparks curiosity. A desire to succeed leads to creative thinking as you examine various possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m just going to say it: I loathe traditional exercise. But take me somewhere I love or have never been and suddenly I\u2019m on a hiking adventure and getting exercise naturally without even thinking about it. Adventure provides exercise the fun way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adventuring is an amazing way to expand your skill set. Learning new skills is healthy for the body, mind, and soul. Challenge the status quo at least once a week by trying something you\u2019ve never done before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adventure is like soul food; we truly were never meant to live without it. Adventure refreshes the soul by invigorating the mind, giving you a mental boost. When we are adventuring outdoors, the natural beauty brings us to a state of awe and wonder, releasing the endorphins that we all need for optimal health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trying what you\u2019ve never tried before brings deep satisfaction. It brings a sense of personal accomplishment and improves self-esteem. The greater the challenge, the greater the victory. Added bonus: resilience. The confidence gained while on an adventure enables us to bounce back better from life\u2019s inevitable setbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n