Singing in the Rain

"The distinguishing mark of a true adventure is that it is often no fun at all while they are happening" - Kim Robinson

A friend who just happens to be an adventure racer sent this quote to me recently. She said that it described her last adventure race experience to a tee. Just a few of their obstacles were inclement weather(one team member had signs of hypothermia), equipment malfunction(bicycle chain broke, twice), and getting lost in the middle of nowhere. Despite all of this, they are ready to do it again...two weeks later(maybe not the member who got hypothermia). If you want to know more about "adventure racing" check out this website(Greg and I are considering doing this one with our adventure racing friends).

As I was searching for some type of image to illustrate this morning's theme, I came across a blog post that hit home with today's thoughts. This blogger was posting the "The 9 Attitudes of Highly Creative People". The two attitudes that fit perfectly in with this post are below. For those of you who are reading this that do not consider yourself creative, scratch that thought. I strongly feel we all have our own creativity, but that subject will have to wait until another post.

2. Seeing Problems as Interesting and Acceptable: One of the problems of the Western mindset is that we often see problems or obstacles in life as unacceptable parts of life. We avoid pain or suppress it when it comes and in doing so don’t often see and feel symptoms that are there to tell us something important. Creative people see problems as a natural and normal part of life – in fact they often have a fascination with problems and are drawn to them.

3. Confronting Challenge: Many of the most creative ideas through out history have come from people facing a challenge or crisis and rather than running from it asking ‘how can I overcome this’?

My blogs up until this point have been very optimistic...well...they're probably going to stay that way. They've also been about the the happiness, the pleasure, the excitement of an adventure...your/my life. The truth is you can't have an adventure with out some obstacles, some challenges, and points to which you question yourself. There is no one, fictional or in reality who does not experience defeat, hurt, pain, anger, confusion, grief, lack of confidence, discouragement and setbacks. During these parts of our journey it is hard to see out, to remember the joys of our odyssey, and that they will pass. It will be easy for me to write about how they will pass right now, because I am not in the throes of adversity at this moment. It will be interesting the day I sit down to write to you when I am in the middle of a setback.

It is uncanny how much this sentence from the blogger's post above fits in with my blog's theme and more specifically the last post about being present. "We avoid pain or suppress it when it comes and in doing so don’t often see and feel symptoms that are there to tell us something important." Even when it hurts it is important to be present. Why? It's part of our adventure, it's what will take us to our next path. More than likely, you will come out of it better than you were before. There's the theory that these challenges define us, they make us who we are...they are an essential piece to what makes you the magnificent person that you are. I believe that. In a physical sense, I do not become faster(in my races) without pushing myself to discomfort, pain, and self-doubt. It's unpleasant when I'm there, but that doesn't last long.

My Dad is and has been a major force in my life. I remember from an early age our discussions about life on our front porch swing during some fantastic thunderstorms(that was our tradition). He said "Nicky, life is all about the ups and downs. Just know that when your up, you'll be coming down again. When your down, you'll be coming up again.". This piece of wisdom has helped me throughout my life. You will not always be high, on top of the world, happy...and you will not always be low, in the dumps, sad. As all things...it will be a balance of both. Both are very important to reading the map of our life.

A friend of mine who in Kindergarten helped me through one of my first obstacles in school commented on my last post. He spoke to being present even in the "downer" moments. I could not resist incorporating his analogy of his daughter to the post about being present.

"An example of moment-to-moment living is my toddler's way of life. She's right there in each moment. Crying when she falls. Laughing when she feels good. Singing. Playing. Nothing else matters.

The time is now."