Day 15: Life's a lesson

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.  Security does not exist in nature." 

The words of Helen Keller, and ones which my mum shared with me last year as I was preparing to embark on a daring adventure of my own*.

Like most people, I like to feel safe and secure.  But my inclination is often to avoid risk so thoroughly that I end up doing... nothing.  There is a Midlake song which contains the line, "I'd like to go home and stay out of sight for a long time," and that is often how I feel.  Safe in my little house, with music playing and books to read and a duvet to snuggle beneath.  No scary outside world, no having to connect with people, no having to overcome my shyness.  Some days I find just leaving the house and no longer being "out of sight" difficult. 

Luckily, I am generally pretty good at forcing myself out of my comfort zone.  At recognising that, as scary as it might be, I'd rather have the daring adventure than the illusion of security.  I've travelled a lot on my own, backpacking through South Africa, crossing America by train.  But the big things are often less nerve-wracking than the small; going to a party where I know almost no-one or meeting someone for a blind date**.  When something feels too much or too scary, when I feel overwhelmed by a situation or am finding it difficult to cope, I focus on the daring adventure and it makes it easier to take a deep breath and take the risk.

*an adventure that did not happen in the end, but that's another story.

** It terrifies me how close I came to cancelling my first date with The Boy because I was so nervous.  All I wanted, as I walked to the bus stop, was to return to the imagined security of my living room.  Thank goodness I chose the 'daring adventure' that time!