Making Everything Into An Adventure
“That was the thing with Bridie, everything that was a market run or errand was not; it was an adventure.” I loved this line in The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry Don’t you just love that person that makes everything into an adventure? Bridie Aberdeen was that person to Hazel and Flora. I really try to be that person. Even when driving my son home from school when he was younger we tried to make it into an adventure – like who could find the most John Deere tractors working in the field. It has often been said of me, “With Byron, everything is an event.” Guilty! And I am proud of it. This past week I had the opportunity to have my son travel with me to California to visit a very close friend and mentor with dementia. Everything we did on this trip was an adventure, from picking fresh avocados to fishing in the Pacific Ocean to doing wine tastings, and everything in between. The thing is that every single thing we did was an adventure. And, amazingly, with every adventure my friend remembered things from the past – places we had been together, things we had done, adventures we had taken 15-20 years ago. Also, my son had not been to Atascadero, California in several years and this trip brought back memories for him of things he had forgotten from being so young at the time. So many times we get so caught up in the day to day grind that we forget to enjoy the journey. If you think about it, it does not take any extra time to make all the things we do into adventures. Those adventures also build family and friendship bonds and memories that even dementia, in the case of my friend and mentor, could fully extinguish.
So, can everything be made into an adventure? I believe so. It’s really a mindset thing. The key is to find ways to infuse creativity, curiosity, and a willingness to take calculated risks into your daily life.
Byron's Babbles 
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