I've Lost My Sense Of Adventure

A Narrative Shift

This is the Narrative Shifts series. Bust one limiting belief every week and rewrite your empowering narrative. You get reflection prompts, reinvention steps (fun, doable action steps to keep you moving forward), and a juicy worksheet to guide you. Reclaim the starring role in your own life story. It’s like Glinda said, “You’ve had the power all along, my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself.”

You know what? Your idea of adventure doesn’t have to be “Imelda, the rock climber who free climbs rocks upside down like a spider” kind of adventure.

People think that to be adventurous you have to be willing to risk your life, or experience some kind of pain, or fear. You know what? Pain and fear are pretty darn uncomfortable and I HATE being uncomfortable. All this “you aren’t living until you are living outside of your comfort zone” crap? I can agree with that to a point. I mean if you want to be a choice agent there will be moments of fear, pain and discomfort, but you know what else?

I like the comfort zone.

I like my big deep bath, with my smelly candle and bubbles. I like my little wee hoose with my heated blanket and shelves of books. I like the cozy yellow blanket on the back of my couch that I pull onto my lap most evenings to watch crap TV.

Does that mean I’m not adventurous? Heck no! I crossed the Drake Passage for God’s sake! (Have a told you I crossed the Drake Passage?) Was I uncomfortable? Yes! I lay on my back for 72 hours trying not to puke. Was it worth it? Yes! I saw penguins, people.

But you don’t have to go to Antarctica to have your version of an adventure.

Sometimes I feel adventurous when I choose to walk across the scary bridge in our park (spoiler, it’s not in the slightest bit scary, it’s just a different route than my routine). Sometimes I feel adventurous when I order a food I’ve never tried before. Just this morning I had a plate of Tartan Tatties. They were basically just nachos on smashed baby potatoes instead of tortilla chips, but it was still an adventure. I mean they gave me a stomach ache, does that count as dangerous?

The Narrative Shift: You haven’t lost your sense of adventure. You’ve lost your willingness to be told with authority what qualifies as adventure.

Adventure isn’t measured by altitude or adrenaline. It’s measured by the distance between who you were this morning and who you choose to be by nightfall. Any time you say yes to something new, any time you make a choice that takes you out of YOUR comfort zone, not Imelda’s, not Instagram’s, not your most daredevil friend’s, you are having an adventure.

Let Imelda risk her life and her fingernails.

We can find adventure any way and any how we choose.

Narrative Shift:

Limiting belief:

I’ve Lost My Sense of Adventure

Empowering narrative:

Adventure begins when I say yes to something new

Reflection Prompts:

• What small daily choice could become an adventure if I simply decided to see it that way?

• Whose definition of adventure have I been using to measure my own life?

• What comfort zone edges feel exciting to me? Not scary, not painful, just deliciously uncertain?

Reinvention Steps:

• Create Your Adventure Menu: List 10 things that feel slightly outside your routine but don’t require a helmet, insurance waiver, or Dramamine.

• The Bridge Practice: Choose one habitual route or routine this week and deliberately alter it. Take the scary bridge. Order the Tartan Tatties. Sit in a different chair. Notice how even tiny deviations can wake up your sense of possibility.

• Adventure Receipts: Start collecting evidence of your adventures (not photos for social media, but private receipts.) The menu from that new restaurant. A leaf from the different path. Build your own adventure portfolio that has nothing to do with anyone else’s definition of daring.

Worksheet Link:

Download here.

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