I'm not much of an adventurer. I'm not one to explore. And I am not definitely not one characterized by taking risks into the unknown; at least without some type of plan.
Which bring me to my church's Women's Retreat I attended this weekend. We were at Camp Seymour (oh, 6th grade camp memories!) this year and we had about 3 hours of free time on Saturday. I opted to take a walk. Not a hike. No plan. Just aimless wandering.
I convinced two of my friends (thanks, Erin and Jessica!) to come along with me. We wandered along a trail, enjoyed the beauty of the deep colors of the Glen Cove, and discovered the Pioneer Bowl (I really need to find those camp pictures. Go Lake Youngs Grizzlies!). However, by the time we stumbled onto the now forever known as "Hobo Hut," my tolerance level for aimless wandering came to an end. In typical Abby fashion, I wanted to double back. Erin and Jessica were convinced we were close to the end of the trail and we would be back to camp soon if we just kept going. Better heads prevailed and we forged on, hoping our skills in logic and deduction rather than our rusty orienteering and would get us back home.
Eventually, we found our way. We joked about not bringing a compass or a map and laughed at our decision making skills:
Me: Hmm...the trail splits. What do you think?
Erin: [pointing to a trail] That looks good. [pause.]
Jessica: What trail marker were we following?
Me: I think it was red. [All of us look around. No red trail marker to be found.] We've got blue and white.
Jessica: Blue?
Erin: Blue. [both look at me.]
Me: Sure. Blue it is.
It's a wonder how we got back to camp. However, within that 40 minute walk, I realized a few things about myself. I'm not an advocate for wandering through life aimlessly. We should be engaged in life. We should have purpose in the way we choose to live our lives. We can't wander aimlessly forever.
I am fearful of wandering from my routine-driven life. I'm afraid I will be lost in my adventure; that I will not find my way back home. I would opt to retreat and go back the way I came rather than keep going forward and find a way out. As much as I would like to take a risk, I often don't.
What beautiful discoveries would I have missed if I didn't wander from my routine-driven life? Is there such a thing as living life a little too safe?
I will not walk about my life aimlessly, but risking a walk into the unknown every once in awhile may be worth the adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment