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New Year, New Adventures

My last writing assignment of last semester was to write a manifesto.  The topic could be as broad or specific as we wanted - topics chosen by my classmates ranged from general advice on how to live a good life to enjoying rain to internet trolling...quite the range of characters we have in that little class.

Honestly, this assignment was giving me a lot of issues, and I still am not happy with the way it turned out.  There's maybe two lines in this whole composition that I'm mildly proud of.  However, the message behind it, I am entirely supportive of (obviously, or I wouldn't have made it into a manifesto).  So, here it is, my manifesto for adventure.

Manifesto for Adventure
                Nowadays, people are focussed on all the wrong things: money, status, acquiring material possessions.  People are surviving and thriving, but no one is really LIVING.  As residents of this beautiful and diverse planet full of opportunity, there is no excuse not to live life to the fullest.
                Nobody lives forever.  Everybody’s gotta go sometime.  Whether it’s a quiet passing in the night or a tragic accident, a welcome end to the stretched out years or the years being cut suddenly short, it is inevitable that the years will come to an end.  As human beings, there is a choice.  A choice to live in fear of that end, postponing what is sure to come, or to live spurred on by that imminent deadline.  But as Natalie Babbitt said, “Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life.  You don’t have to live forever.  You just have to live.”
It’s not about living long, but living well.  Life is all about experiences.  Pack in as many possible during this short time on earth.  Treat life like the grand adventure it is.
Look for adventures in the little things.  Adventures don’t have to be some wild trek through the depths of the rain forest or an insanely epic police chase down the interstate.  Go stargazing.  Get ice cream at two in the morning.  Stay out all night and eat breakfast at sunrise. 
But once in a while a chance to go on one of those grand adventures comes around.  Take it.
Spontaneity brings the best plot twists.  Spur of the moment ideas can be a stroke of genius.  If there’s a thunderstorm raging outside, don’t hunker down – chase it!
Don’t be afraid to try something new, something weird, something you’re certain you’ll hate.  You might find something you like.  At the very least, you’ll find a good story about the worst thing you ever tried.
Do it for the vine!  Friends make friends do stupid things.  Sometimes it ends in injury, sometimes it ends in embarrassment.  Sometimes (rarely) it ends in victory.  But it always ends in a good story.
Do at least one thing a day that will shock your grandkids.  No one wants to go through life without at least one crazy story the grandchildren won’t be able to believe.  Perhaps that story will make them realize they have the coolest grandma ever.  Or maybe it will gross them out beyond belief to think of their little old grandpa doing THAT.  It’ll be hilarious.
Fear nothing but the unlived life.
It’s one of those cliché things that’s actually true.  You want to be lying on your death bed, loving the life that you lived.  So seize every moment.  You will always succeed at making your life an adventure as long as you get out there and live it.

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I have loved that quote from Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting ever since the first time I heard it, many moons ago.  I try to live my life as the grand adventure that it is and take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.  I have so many amazing memories with so many incredible people. I guess since this is kind of a new years post, I'm obligated to say that I had so many wild adventures this past year, big and small, planned and totally unexpected.  I'm so excited for this year and all the adventures that it's sure to hold.  And here's a shout out to everyone in my life: I am so blessed to have you, I love you dearly, and I'm so excited to continue living life with you, making memories, and having adventures.

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