WHAT ABOUT A NEW ADVENTURE?

As Eleanor Roosevelt once stated – “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.”

In other words, we grow and become our best selves when we take advantage of new adventures. The thing is, how often do we try something new?

Apparently, from what I’ve read research suggests that we’re wired to choose the familiar. Why would we want to seek new adventures when we’re comfortable with what we’re doing? In fact, even when we get that little inkling that we should try something new, our minds quickly shut it down. According to a recent survey, apparently many people can’t remember the last time they attempted to give a new adventure a try.

But aren’t new experiences at the top of most of our bucket lists? I can remember launching ourselves into many different adventures whether it was a working holiday, decades ago, around Australia. Then travelling to Queensland to look after a Quarter horse stud, while the owners went on holiday. Moving from one state to another in 1988 with ten horses, two cats and two dogs! Travelling alone, overseas to the USA in the 1990s to meet two wonderful people to whom I faxed letters for years. Back in those days travel was very different to now. Also, a fabulous trip with a friend to Europe and to top it off deciding to give writing a shot.

From my experience, sharing an adventure with someone special makes it far more enjoyable. This is backed up by several articles and a study published in the journal Psychological Science that found those who engaged in any positive activity with a friend or partner experienced increased enjoyment.

Could it be time to begin ticking off items on your wish-list and think about a possible adventure? Sure, at present, we have to remain in Australia but that’s no handicap considering what our incredible country offers us. Apparently, people who partake in an assortment of experiences are more likely to retain positive feelings than people who have fewer experiences. We can all do with a little more positivity. When you think about it, even the littlest experience can have an impact on our joy — moments like a spontaneous laugh with a loved one or an encounter with a magnificent Arabian horse.

Further to this, I look at the past and realise people don’t actually get out and visit fellow Arabian horse enthusiasts farms as much as they used to. Why? I loved sharing experiences with other breeders and viewing the beauty of their horses in the flesh. To me it was a necessary experience, understanding other opinions in the quest to being a valuable breeder. I think we’re all guilty of saying, how quickly time flies. If you think about it: how many of us just roll along from day to day only to realise that another year has almost gone. When we embrace new adventures, we’re interrupting our everyday flow – in the best possible way.

So, where to from here? For us a new adventure, a new place to live, changing thirty one years of same, same. My writing has opened me to an ongoing adventure, even though health situations have changed the manner in which these adventures unfold. Maybe, instead of simply looking at photographs on Social Media plan a road trip to visit a friend, a favourite or new place or a maybe a horse stud here in Australia you’ve been longing to visit.

When it comes to Social Media I always take a deep breath and wrinkle my nose. Okay, there’s no doubt that Social Media for business can be a great tool getting the word out about things you wish to share. These days for me it’s my books. Valuable customer interactions can also be initiated. But sadly, the effectiveness of social media is often dampened by misinterpretations and how social it simply appears to be a vanity indicator. However, if handled correctly, social media can definitely assist customer awareness in a product i.e. my books and there’s the happy situation of being able to connect with others, which can sometimes be a lifeline or the making of a lifetime friendship.

I believe we all have the spirit of adventure for an exciting and unusual experience. We can even participate in exciting undertakings or enterprises. If someone has an adventure, they become involved in an unusual, exciting, and a possibly challenging journey or series of events. Sounds like a great book to me!

Finally, a new adventure gives us the opportunity to create some really special memories. Stepping into the unknown and making memories out of an adventure make you reflect upon your experiences and increase your self-awareness. Here’s to new adventures …