Blessed are those who live for adventure, for they shall never die with regrets. - Chris Guillebeau
Brenda put me onto Chris Guillebeau's website The Art of Non-conformity. It was on his website that I found this quote, and it resonated so much.
Several lifetimes ago, after a very emotional (teenaged) bout of anger and frustration, I had what can only be called a life-changing spiritual experience. A "born-again" experience. Not to a religion but with the Universe. It suddenly became clear how vast the Universe is, how much the mind cannot grasp, how unfeeling and empty, yet there was nothing evil, it simply is a state of being. It's the Nature of existence. And it became clear how this one life is all there is. So to NOT have a sense of adventure, to NOT live it every possible moment is a slap in the face of Nature, a disrespect of the possibilities a single life has. I knew if I didn't love and LIVE this life, there wouldn't be any other, and I would deeply regret not taking advantage of what I'd been given.So now, 40 years after the fact, having had some adventures and had some adventures thwarted out of fear and insecurity, I have arrived to be the kind of person I should have become so long ago. But I didn't have the guts to proceed, to stand up and gain some confidence and move down my own path. Yet, that said, I moved down a path that gave me a decent career, lots of free time, plenty of money, and I traveled a lot, did many things that I joyfully remember, and I have a son, family and friends to love and feel good about. I enjoyed the life I had, but might have enjoyed it even more if I'd had more confidence, if I'd lived for adventure instead of living vicariously reading other people's stories.
How much of this life is left? I don't know. I have all the time in the world. All the time I need. We all do. It's not how much time we have left, but what we do with it.
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. - Tagore
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