Choose Your Own Adventure

It is New Years Day. A day that is often used for digestion of the past years events and a stew pot of hopes and goals for the up coming year. It is a time for reflection. Every year I try to make the same resolutions. This past year I would like to think that I kept up with them pretty well, and I plan to use the same ones for 2014.  I firmly recommend these resolutions to anyone, because they are more about perspective and self growth than ego and image.

Resolutions
1. Develop a closer bond to family.

Example: 

I did not use to think that I personally had a lot of family, and the ones that I do have I am not super close to. Part of me has always wanted to have one of those that a person reads about. You know the type; quirky, lovable, reliable, loyal with a dash of angst to keep it all interesting. My family isn't that. My family is like magnets, we repel each other the closer we get.  I love them, because of their dis-function. Their dis-function has made me a better person. 

My dad has spent almost thirty years not talking to any of his siblings. This past year through long talks with my dad, I am now in contact with aunts and uncles that I vaguely was aware that existed.  While it might not be a super strong bond at this moment, it is enough of a bond that I am 93% sure that none of my new to me relatives will be stealing a kidney from me in my sleep and that I come from a line of off the wall black sheep. I am sure not every one out there has family that they have never met, that doesn't make this resolution any less worthy.  

If I had not taken the time to invest in a closer bond with my father, we would never have started talking about family or even family history. Even if I had never had additional family out there, it was really nice to hear some stories about his experiences that I have never heard before.  I recommend to everyone to take the time to have the long talks with a family member, because you never know what you are going to gain from the experience until you do.

 

2. Go on more adventures. 

Example:

I use to think that my life was boring, and nothing ever happened in it. It was true, because I never moved past my comfort zones and did anything new.  For the past couple of years I have made a point to plan some adventures, because I have found that adventures just don't happen without a little help. Or at least the good adventures don't start out with a little help.

I think that if a person wants a life of adventure they have to create it. This past year I have explored caves, thrown surprise parties, consumed foreign liquors (Yeni Raki & Cachaca to name a few), talked to strangers and made myself vulnerable with new friends. None of that would have happened if I had not made the effort to do something. Adventures come in many shapes and sizes, and can be as interesting as trying new recipes from a cook book, or as dangerous as sky diving, but they are all considered adventures and are worth doing. I recommend to everyone to do something out side of the everyday normal, because who wants to read a memoir about grocery shopping?