Last weekend I took a roadtrip with my girlfriend and her two boys. As our trip began I turned to them and said with some enthusiasm…
“Are you ready for a wild ride – a crazy adventure?!? You in?”
They sheepishly responded and eventually agreed that they were on board.
Little did we know, the weekend WAS an adventure.
- We had too many donuts for lunch.
- We built an enormous wall at LegoLand with every supersized Lego brick available to us.
- Everyone attacked me in a surprise (pretend) snowball fight in the hotel room at 7am.
- I accidentally drained the car battery, allowing us the time to throw a football around and have a scavenger hunt while we waited for a jump.
- The boys and I raced across the Coca-Cola museum lawn in beautiful, spring-like weather.
- My girlfriend and I had a beautiful talk while the boys slept on the drive back home.
That weekend we expected an adventure and clearly made one happen. And I learned this important lesson: YOU EXPERIENCE WHAT YOU EXPECT. If I expect my day to be dull, dreary and a disappointment — guess what kind of day it will be? A dull, dreary, not fun day.
“Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
I had my share of not fun days this year. My divorce was finalized, time with my son was drastically reduced, and I struggled with feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. I expected hard, not fun days and that’s exactly what I got.
But over the past 3 months my approach to life has shifted. Today, I am ready for an adventure. I worry less when my plans get detoured. I embrace risk. I am more vulnerable with everyone around me. And I am enjoying being myself more and more — striving to live simply, love boldly and do work that matters.
Now I wake up ready for a wild ride, a crazy adventure full of love, challenges, detours, and laughter… and that’s exactly what I’ve experienced.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings.