Remember your hat!

All the old tales seem to imply that the hero was designed for the quest or vice versa, but life rather seems to be more falling into something rather haphazardly or simply slipping into it gradually, hardly noticing that you have begun until you are in the middle.  That is perhaps the hardest lesson of growing up: learning that 'your story' isn't so neat and clean and straightforward as the stories lead us to believe.  You have a story, you have things to do in your life, but until you can see it from one end to the other, edited as it were, to leave out all the dead ends and idle time, we only frustrate ourselves by trying to make sense of everything while in the midst of it or repining that things aren't happening 'as they ought.'  It is also wise to remember that sometimes the completely unexpected will eventually turn out to be the most important part of the plot.  We all like to plan and dream, but we must leave room for a bit of spontaneity and unlooked for adventure, or we may end up with a dull tale indeed.  Just because where we seem to be going isn't in our plans or our ideal, doesn't mean it is a bad, indeed, it may prove to be vital to the plot; the key to a life well lived is learning to walk down an unexpected turning in eagerness, rather than with dread and dragging feet or running in the opposite direction.

I now own a guitar, a guitar with no strings and a missing bridge.  I have no desire to play the guitar, but there it sat in a corner of the flea market and I knew I should ask about it.  $2?!  I was willing to part with $5, so rather astonished, I took it home and began researching how to make it functional.  I don't know what will come of it, but it will certainly be an adventure, perhaps a dead end, but an adventure nonetheless!

I don't want to go to Alaska either, especially in a floating tourist trap with 3000 other people!  I don't like crowds, I don't like strangers, I'm claustrophobic, my stomach doesn't do well with food not cooked at home, I'm very much a homebody except for a few adventures to certain scenic natural areas within driving distance, so why do I want to go on a cruise?  Good question, but that's what is going to happen in just a few days.  The scenery will be gorgeous, I'm sure, and once I'm there, it will be fun, but right now the dread far outweighs the excitement.  But we're going and that's that.  And yes, it will be good for me, and may even be the highlight of the decade, but it is the adventure currently set before me and endure it I must.  I don't think our travel insurance gives us a refund for 'cold feet.'

So what is your adventure?  What are you dreading or ignoring or scoffing at?  What are you hoping will happen or are waiting for that may never be realized, on which you have focused all your dreams and hopes and ambitions, putting life on hold until that fateful day?  Don't put life on hold, go down those seemingly insignificant side paths, live while you're waiting, and even if it doesn't happen, your life won't have been pointless and you may even find what you were looking for where you least expected to find it!  But unlike Bilbo, remember to take your hat and pocket kerchief!