Finding adventure...

Life is an adventure.  

If it's not...you're clearly not growing enough. 

In the past 14 months: 

my parents sold the house I've lived in since I was 7 & moved 600 miles to the Black Hills. 

I spent a week in Florida with my roommate, explored downtown Seattle on my own, drove up to Canada to my friend's cabin in the middle of the night, 

gone through 2 break-ups, gone on a handful of "awkward first dates", 

started the process of looking for my birth mother (and still haven't sent in the papers), 

got an entry level job at my dream organization to work for...and a year later got laid off, 

I went Skydiving,

my grandma who I am very close to had a serious stroke, 

I went on a cousins trip to Arizona,

and now I'm halfway moved out of MN and will live with my parents in Spearfish, SD for December then start a lease in Denver, CO starting in January with no job lined up yet... 

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My life is an adventure lately...and boy, am I growing.

Five important things I've learned this past year or so about Faith, Love, and Happiness:

5. Don't get too attached to home as a physical "place". Sure it's sad and you've made a lot of memories there, but its just a building. It's just a town. You can't move away from memories, they come with you.

4. Get rid of that shirt "that might be good for layering" but you haven't worn in 2 years. Get rid of those textbooks and notebooks from college you know you're never going to look at again. The less "stuff" you have = the easier it is to move on short notice = more adventures.

3. Don't look for a relationship just to "make you happy", that is way too much responsibility and pressure to put on someone else. This should be obvious, but I know I've fallen into it way too often.

2. Don't let fear hold you back. God doesn't use fear as a way of closing doors.  If you're comfortable, you're not growing.

Most importantly...
1. Follow your gut.   I've learned the Holy Spirit often works through my gut...(give that man your $10 gift card, start a conversation with that elderly lady in the airport, don't go to that party). You know when something doesn't feel right.  Once you start following it on the little things...you'll learn how to listen to it on the bigger, tougher things.

So even if it's not your "thing", I dare you to look for more adventures and opportunities to grow.  Whether its jumping in that puddle or out of that plane. Don't pass up an opportunity you know you should take just because it's not what you're used to.  I've done that way too often and it's just a waste of time to stay comfortable because you're scared of the alternative.  Because as Helen Keller said...

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."