Last week, my family and I spent our Spring Break with my parents in Salt Lake City, Utah. They graciously flew us up so that they could see Harrison and let him play in the snow again before it all melts away. While we were there, someone asked Harrison, “How is your vacation going?” and he replied, “I’m not on vacation, I’m on an adventure!”
One of the best things about having kids is seeing their wide-eyed innocence and instinctual sense of adventure. All of us were like that at one time, but life and maturity has a way of monopolizing our focus, and we can easily lose the spark of adventure within us.
Now I’m not saying that I wish we could all act like kids again because — while a childlike view of the world seems so sweet and fulfilling — people with a strong sense of maturity and wisdom are absolutely necessary in order to cultivate a healthy society. In fact, the failure of people to grow up is one of the things that I think plagues our modern culture most.
But growing up doesn’t mean we cannot continue to seek adventure. Most of us cannot leave work and go hiking the Canadian Rockies for three months, but we can spend the weekend camping with our family. Most of us will never be able to go on safari in Kenya, but we can take our kids to the zoo and imagine that we are trackers on the Savannah. Experiencing adventure from our kids’ perpective can be just as fulfilling. And as your kids grow, the adventures can become even more elaborate — to the point where you become just as excited about the experience as your son/daughter.
So today, think of one thing you can do in the next two weeks to help your kid(s) experience an adventure. It doesn’t have to be a big deal, it just has to be intentionally adventurous. Who knows, maybe you will unleash the spark is still deep inside you.
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