“What we are familiar with, we cease to see.”
Anaïs Nin
As a teacher, I learned that children thrive on routine. School procedures provide safety and stability, and according to an article in Newport Academy this month, there is substantial evidence proving this. Practices and schedules at schools and regular routines within the home all provide the structure children need. Adults too!
However, how difficult is it to recollect the day before because there was nothing out of the ordinary to remember? Perhaps the daily drills lack the luster they once carried, so maybe a change is needed. Educators often vary instruction to incorporate a new initiative. Perhaps your family has taken the same vacations every year, so this too needs revisiting. Getting out of the familiar can open wide our eyes to things never yet seen. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing everyday that scares you”, or at least to do something that is outside your comfort zone.
Novelist, Paul Coelho, said, “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It’s lethal.” Alright, perhaps not lethal, but in our spiritual, mental, and emotional health, I agree he is on to something! While grieving, it was comforting for me to stay turtled in a routine. It made sense to me like a simple math formula; if I plug in the correct actions, I will get the anticipated result. The world seemed too big for me, and I wanted to withdraw from it.
Encouraged by friends and family, I signed up for an evening class at the community college a few months after Jim crossed. I was terrified. With each new adventure, I’d ask myself, “What am I doing?” How am I going to do this?” You likely have asked yourself the same questions. “Some things are so unexpected”, Leo Rosten said, “that no one is prepared for them.” Grief is heavy and sudden, so we all have to do the best we can with what we have left.
With each new adventure, my world got a little bigger, a little brighter. The restraints of the mundane eventually loosened. Where I once saw a world so intimidating, I now have opened my eyes and my heart to find adventure. Saying yes allows us to see the possibilities that are just ahead. Sure it’s scary, but so is staying in one place for too long.
Say yes to the adventure.