in my experience, most people believe life is supposed to be comfortable. there is this unconscious worldview that anything that is unfamiliar, any problem without obvious solution, anything, really, that rocks the boat, is bad. and because of the feeling that there must be something wrong whenever something is uncomfortable, people suffer from any kind of uncertainty that they may encounter.
to cure it, they have invented things like insurances, liability exclusions and planning dependability, anything offering a sense of security.
you try to foresee all eventualities. you seek guaranteed outcomes. you protect your every decision from future failure. but for all of your effort, one day you realise you might just as well have been grabbing hold of sand with your bare hands. nothing is working out as predicted, everything you have invested in is in limbo, global crises have forced you to use up your savings, and personal crises are threatening to leave you alone and desolate, all potentially gone at the blink of an eye. one moment you felt like you had your life under perfect control, the next it was teetering on the edge of a knife.
how could this have happened? you followed every shrap of advice, never did anything risky, kept everything sorted and organised. you followed all of the rules. you lived up to expectations. you never asked for anything outside of your reach, for you knew your place. you had done nothing wrong. you had always made sure you were comfortable. but nevertheless, it was all slipping from your grasp. and the harder you tried to hold on, the faster it was slipping.
the uncertainty is unsettling. you resist it. you resent it. you are uncomfortable, in pain. you try to silence it, to numb it. but it never goes away. and when you do manage to cut the head off the beast, two new ones grow.
the thing is, life is uncertain. it can't be controlled. it ebbs and flows, bringing abundance one day, and hardship another. any sense of security that you may be able to kid yourself into feeling is an illusion. the wild, nature, life, the world, acts according to its own rules, and no amount of money can bribe it into following our will. we play but a tiny part in the vast whole that is life, and we must accept our role in the dance.
there is no way of knowing what will be waiting around the next corner. life happens. it presents us with challenges, gifts, joys, sorrows, loss, love. they come unexpectedly, and whenever they please. you are either ready to welcome them, or they will pass you by but haunt you forever. the beast cannot be slayed, it needs to be made an ally.
I dare you to pick up your bush knife and set out on an adventure. by all means prepare as best you can, but you know full well that you can never be prepared. you know you will face challenges and hardships and trials and tribulations, and you will fall and get scratched and dirty and tired. you know you will feel helpless and have to find a solution to your problems anyways. for on an adventure, you expect the unexpected. you let go of control and trust that you will find a way to solve whatever situation may present itself. when you're in pain, you actively seek relief, you don't pretend the pain is not there, that will most definitely worsen the problem, and quite likely end up threatening your life. when you're in trouble, you don't hide or give up, but find a way out.
on an adventure, you face the fear. whatever it may be, you cannot suppress it, else you know it will come and bite you in the worst moment. instead, you seek it out. you look it in the eye. you face it full on, you surrender to fate, and set yourself free. the fight is the toughest, scariest, most terrible thing you have ever been through, but you triumph, for you are a survivor.
and on an adventure, you do all of these things willingly. you don't avoid and don't ignore. you are in it for the experience. for the lessons learned, the wisdom gained and the growth achieved.
on an adventure, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being uncomfortable.
on an adventure, there is absolutely everything right with being uncomfortable.
let's go out into our wild and live life that way instead.
not the comfortable way, the adventure way.
Comments