Live The Adventure

While reading Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men by Stephen Mansfield I came across a quote by Jon Krakauer that I wanted to share in this blog.  Mansfield quoted Krakauer while writing on the topic of quest/adventure.  Krakauer’s words are similar (yet better) to the words that I wrote and the point that I was trying to make in a previous blog post on “try something new.”  Before I share the quote, I want to encourage that if you are a female reading this blog post, please don’t quit reading simply because I am quoting from a man who was quoted within a book titled “Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men.”  This encouragement is for all mankind, not just the male gender.  Krakauer said:

“Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt.  So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservations, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.  The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure.  The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.  If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy.  But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.”

As my friend Hunter Mangrum would encourage you to do: “Viva La Adventura!”