In Lesson 1 we created our Adventure List. In Lesson 3 we made a list of resons why we just can’t be adventurous (and then tossed that list away!). And now we’re making a list of a different kind.
Assignment
This exercise is designed to stretch our imaginations. With our Adventure List we pondered, we brainstormed, we dreamt. And now we’re going over the top.
Today make a list of adventures that you would never, ever try. We’re talking never in a billion jillion years. The you-couldn’t-pay-me-a-million-dollars-to-do-this list.
On my list I have skydiving (the real kind… from a plane) because I have a fear of heights, a fear of flying, a fear of falling, and a fear of being flattened to death. I also have “never eat the tongue of anything” on my list. That one’s just a general rule for me.
So get going - put down the scariest, the grossest, the most impossible adventures you can think of. Really use the old noodle on this one.
This list will accomplish three things.
One: it will get you to think about why certain things are on the No Adventure List. Are your reasons for not trying something valid? Are they things you could overcome? Maybe they are and maybe they’re not.
Two: it will make certain items on your Adventure List seem more possible. You’ll think, ‘well, I’m never going to climb Mount Everest, but maybe I could go on that camping trip’. You will have developed a kind of Adventure Scale.
Three: you will have something fun to look back on years from now to see if you actually ended up doing something you never thought you’d do. When I used to volunteer at a family camp in Big Bear I thought I would never do their ropes course. As I mentioned, I’m afraid of heights and also not a big fan of people watching me do things. But now that I’ve zip lined throuhg the redwoods, the heights of the ropes course don’t seem so high and as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten less shy.
The idea is for your brain to always be working on this project of living a more adventurous life. The more you exercise it, the more you feed it, the more productive it will be. My brain is constantly working for me (often when I don’t even know it!), so when an adventure crosses my path I’m ready!
