The Spirit Of Adventure
In many fictional pieces, there are intrepid heroes who go on what we think of as “adventures”, where they brave many threats to their own life in search of something that varies from story. It can be compelling to think about our own lives as boring in comparison to theirs, but I don’t think it has to be that way. There are many obstacles we face in our own lives, so why do they have to be “boring” in comparison to the obstacles that fictional characters face? And why shouldn’t we glorify overcoming these smaller, more frequent challenges?
Maybe it’s because I’m a very imaginative person, but I like to view any unfortunate events as challenges to overcome. Somehow, I manage to view the rain as a challenge to overcome! I at least find amusement in the twists and turns I’m presented with. For example, two days ago, my teacher gave us an assignment that was quite long and expected us to finish it in two days. I’m confident that most of the people in my class will not finish because this wasn’t a high-stakes situation; you won’t fail the assignment if you don’t do it by then. But, I decided to make it a personal challenge to myself to finish it within the allotted two days. And, lo and behold, I did it! Small achievements like that are worth being proud of, because the larger achievements don’t come around that often and I think it’s motivating to savor our smaller successes.
I’m not saying that we should be complacent with small successes without striving to be better; I personally value trying to improve my skills in various areas. But I also think that without embracing those small successes, our daily lives are at risk of devolving into either monotony, interrupted by small failures that will only hurt more without success to balance it, or they become pure uninvolved entertainment cycles. The former is a massive risk for competitors in anything that increases as they get better and better. The more they win, the less winning might mean to them if they don’t reinforce it in their minds, and the losses will only hurt more and more when winning becomes the expectation. Even if winning is the expected result, it’s important to remember that winning still requires effort and is still an achievement in of itself. The latter is a possibility when we become unwilling to challenge ourselves and confront the dual possibilities of success and failure. After all, without challenges, is there anything we can really be proud of?
If we can embrace these challenges and learn to understand both success and failure, I think we will find that we aren’t quite as far away from those intrepid heroes as it might seem. If we use our imaginations and put challenges in front of ourselves, we can find greater meaning in life, at least for certain types of people. For example, I like to attempt difficult challenges in video games, as I think that environment is extremely conducive to exposing me to new challenges and learning new types of skills, such as pattern recognition, strategic thinking, managing probabilities (although that is one of my least favorite parts to tell the truth), training physical execution, patience and more.
I personally find great value in these challenges, but there are other ways to challenge yourself. Some basic examples include:
Working out, where challenging yourself is basically the entire point and the most efficient way to become healthier by far
Challenging your discipline, perhaps by training focus on one thing, like committing yourself to read a book and not quit until it is done
Any competition where you don’t exclusively play against people that are much worse than you
Even challenging yourself to think about something from a new perspective; for example, thinking about a sitcom from the perspective of a particular type of teenager, then a young adult, then an older adult with a partner and children; you might learn something new about the different stages of life and how they affect our thinking from these examples
The way learning is presented in school or academic settings can often come up as monotonous or boring, but really, learning is about overcoming intellectual challenges in memory, logical thinking, creativity, etc. I think living life with the spirit of an adventurer in the ways I’ve described adds great meaning to our time on this Earth, and even if it doesn’t work for everyone, I advise you to give it a try.