Convert Curiosity

When I was a kid growing up in Africa 

I dreamed about going on adventures.

After school

I would remove my shirt and shoes 

Run outside in my khaki shorts

BB gun and pocket knife by my side

I would make a fire

And proceed to walk through the jungle (my backyard) in search of whatever adventure arose 

I would stalk Vervet monkeys

Munch of mulberries

Maybe even wade into the pond and try catch fish 

(I don’t know how many times those poor goldfish had to deal with me chasing them around) 

This…

This is how I wanted to life to be

This is how I expected it to be

Michael, The Explorer

The next adventure

The next person to learn from

The next track to follow 

No idea where it was going to lead me

But being brave enough to follow my curiosity

Despite the fear and danger of booby traps and lions 

(The booby traps were set by me, and the nearest lions were at least 45 minutes away from where I lived)

But when I woke up as an adult

There was a difference between my expectations and the reality I was living

I still had those dreams, desires of adventure, and urges to follow my curiosity

But I wasn’t acting on them

The gap between those two worlds felt vast

One world of adventure, exhilaration, terror, growth, learning, love, joy, courage

One world of predictability, staleness, boredom 

Don’t get me wrong - I love times of predictability, routine and plateaus

But I wanted the balance

The dichotomy

The plateau juxtaposed with growth

The stillness juxtaposed with action

The concrete juxtaposed with mud 

The order juxtaposed with chaos 

And I was at the point where plateaus felt lonely without the balance of the other side

I munched on this

Sat down with a guide I really trusted

And spoke about the vast gap between those two places

And what I found…

Was that the gap wasn’t as large as I initially though

In fact

It was tiny

A single stepping stone in a small puddle

Or a little jump across a small stream

One little stepping stone

One little thing

One, simple action

Was all I needed to bridge those two worlds

Examples?

Send that message

Write that email

Book those dates in the calendar 

Ask that question

Say that thing out loud

Cross the street

Follow that sign

Let my body lead 

Walk out the door 

What’s my point? 

Convert curiosity into action 

Sending hugs

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