The Adventure
Hey you! Yeah, you reading this! How are you reading this? Are you reading in a rush? To get it over with? With the end in sight? I know I’m a corny writer, but come on!!
Far too often, we find ourselves treating life as a means-to-an-end. I know that can be my mindset when I read, for example. The end becomes my goal, and when I’m focused on getting it done, I don’t really enjoy the reading so much. I’m not even really reading, I’m more completing. If this resonates with you, pause for moment. Take a deep breath. Maybe reread slowly, mindfully up to this point. Then, set the intention to finish the article in this same way, and continue on.
A common example where this means-to-an-end living can come out is in our travel. Whenever we are going places, we can tend to focus on getting there, and not on the traveling itself. Our mind drifts to that distant destination in the future, or somewhere completely unrelated, and away from here and now. This is especially so during the more “mundane” and “repetitive” (I put quotes, because the perception of these qualities is adjustable) journeys. When commuting to work or running errands, for example, our mind tends to chaotically stray from the now, in order to escape those feelings and just get “there” already! And this tendency, while it might seem to make the whole thing go by faster, really detracts from the type of joy we are capable of experiencing in anything and everything we do, even if we typically think of that something as boring, or burdensome.
I also notice this type of thinking creeping in when I go on walks. I really love to walk, to relax, get active and get in some adventuring. So it can be frustrating when my mind pulls me away from that! I’ll notice that I continually drift to this thought of getting home as fast as possible, or completing my 10,000 steps so I can just call it a freakin’ day already! Thinking in this way, with that rushed mindset, I miss out on much of the adventure of freely exploring my surroundings. It makes something I know I enjoy, unenjoyable. So, when I catch myself in that frame of mind, I come back into my senses, with an attitude of curiosity, to appreciate the many, many cool things I can experience around me!
In terms of our visions for the future, we tend to fixate on our goals. Consider how thinking of the process as a means-to-an-end, just to get to that freakin’ goal already, might cause us to miss out on the fun of getting there. The adventure is in the travelling (!), not just at the destination.
So, keep an eye out for this type of thinking. I’m even attempting my best to stay here in the moment as I’m writing this (and now, later, typing it up), rather than getting bogged down by thoughts of the finished product. Doing so, I’m enjoying writing a lot more!
If, and when, you feel this pull to the future, the ends, practice coming back to the here and now, and really feel the adventure! Here are some ways how:
As in meditation practice, you can always come back to your breath, for a nice anchoring in the present moment.
Check in with your senses, too. What do you hear? See? Smell? Feel? Taste?
Try and reset your autopilot function, which might be to put your head down and just GO, get it done, and bring a sense of curiosity into whatever you are doing, Its one of the best tools we have for fighting off the mundane. How can you look at what you are doing with fresh eyes, as if you were doing it for the very first time?
Practice a little gratitude. What are you grateful for, in this very moment of your journey?
You will notice, with a little practice, that as we start to cultivate presence, appreciation of the senses, gratitude, and curiosity, the means begin to feel more adventurous and less mundane. We won’t need to focus so rigidly on an end in sight.
So, wherever you are going, let the way be an adventure… every step of the way… starting here and now!