Something which I have come to notice more than anything else during my time traveling and living around the world with the kids, is that you really don’t have to look far for adventure or happiness, very often it is right there in front of you. I understand the practicality and the logistic side of adventure of course, heading off to the desert for an aTV tour, hitting the slopes to ski etc etc, but that is just one type of adventure.
The reason for most of the change in my thought process has been the kids, they are at the heart of all of this, and it is because they do still take the time to pay attention to the present. It is very easy to get lost in the present and what I often struggle with is the fact that we spend so much time planning for the future, that the present is lost both now and then. We lose the current moment because we are planning another, then we lose that one too because there is always a worry, a fear or a concern which we have to look out for.
Now much of this is just life, we can’t very well spend life without ever planning anything, just absorbing the present, kids can however because they know that you’re on hand to do all of that boring adult, planning, risk-calculation stuff. With this being said however it is absolutely essential that you do take those moments to recognize where you are and what you are doing, because that is where the real adventure lies.
There are certain things in life which are just unavoidable, the need to work and generate money to survive for example is certainly one of those. Thinking about things however, I have learned to work smarter and harder, contrary to what some may say and I am now able to squeeze everything I need to do into a couple of hours per day. This freedom which that hasn’t given me allows me to indulge in the adventurous side of what I am doing, it enables me the beauty of watching my kids play with some Serbian kids they met at the playground whilst I chat to their Mum over coffee. This has also allowed me to be more relaxed and organized, which helps me to be a better parent to my kids, and that in itself is an adventure.
We all try so hard to seek out the next big adventure, the next thing that will get our hearts racing and our blood pumping, the reality however, is that more often than not we are in the adventure, we just haven’t taken the time to open up our eyes to see it, feel it, and truly experience it. No matter where you are, that is where the adventure can be found.
