Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Tag: adventure

  • Are You Seeking Security or Adventure?

    Are You Seeking Security or Adventure?

    As we move through life, our desires and priorities shift, which means our interest in adventure and security changes. In our younger years, adventure tempts us. The world is new and full of experiences. We have fewer obligations and more time to recover from risk. A spontaneous road trip, quitting a job for a year-long adventure, or trying a career path just to “see what happens” feels exciting.

    When you’re young, your obligations are usually minimal—maybe student debt, maybe rent. No mortgage, spouse, or children to factor into your decisions. You can afford to dream big, fall flat, and dream again.

    But as we grow older, the pendulum swings. Security starts to matter more. Adventure doesn’t disappear; it’s just shaped by responsibility. Adventure is a family trip to a new place that’s kid friendly. A budget-friendly car seems more enticing than a sports car. With a mortgage to pay and kids needing hockey gear or college tuition, expensive nights out seem less appealing. Risk now has consequences not just for you, but for those who depend on you.

    Then comes retirement. The kids are grown, the house is (hopefully) paid off, and if you’ve saved well, time becomes your luxury once again. For some, adventure returns with a cruise,  vacations without kids, or finally learning a new hobby. (While climbing Everest or skydiving may still be possible, it’s less common.) Adventure becomes more about experience and less about adrenaline.

    So, are you seeking security or adventure? The truth is, we all seek both—just different priorities depending on where we are in life. The trick is to find balance: enough adventure to feel alive, and enough security to feel safe. Neither is better or worse; they simply serve us differently in each phase of our lives.

    Daily writing prompt
    Are you seeking security or adventure?
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  • A Visit With A Friend

    A Visit With A Friend

    Daily writing prompt
    If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?
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    Dear Friend,

    Thank you for letting me stay at your home for the past month. It was my first time in the big city and my first time away from home! I loved all the dessert places you took me to. The cookies and hot chocolate were wonderful. As with all good things, though, my time here has come to an end and it’s time to go home now that it’s winter and the holidays are approaching.

    Back home, no one sleeps at this time of year. The factory and workshop are open, and everyone works 24/7. It’s an important month! We are busy making toys. Millions upon millions of toys. We have the most advanced technology tracking all children and what toys they requested so that we can make them. I don’t know how we managed to get all those orders done on time before we had computers! I’m needed back home where I can help!

    During the weeks before Christmas, my job is to read letters from children and reply to them. We get thousands of letters! Then, on Christmas Eve, I help Santa load the toys on the sleigh. Then, on Christmas morning, we breathe a high sigh of relief for a job well done when Santa returns.

    This is what life is like at home at this time of year. I’m looking forward to going back. Next year, I hope to visit you again!

    With much love,

    Sammi Elf

  • My Secret Yearning

    My Secret Yearning

    This evening I am sitting on the bed, waiting for my mom to return. I wait here like this every time she goes out. Sometimes, a bug comes by, and I fear it’ll land on my head. But fortunately, the bug doesn’t, and I’m safe. Hours pass and the sun moves across the bed, and the light turns into dark.

    When my mom returns, I want to tell her how brave I’ve been. She thinks I have it easy, sitting at home all day and enjoying my life. My life might be easy, but it’s not the life that I want. I want more than to be safe at home. I want to be like her. I want to go out to all the places that she visits. Whether it is for a holiday trip somewhere or something as simple as going to the store. It might be boring to her, but a complete adventure for me. I want to people watch and see what people are doing and where they go. I want to experience what people experience in the movies.

    Tonight, she has gone out to the coffee shop to write with her writing friends. She thinks I had an easy day. I don’t have to worry about paying the bills or even doing any of the housework. She gives me a hug. I’m glad she’s home and I have her company. She says she’s very lucky to have me around. “You’ ‘re a special bear,” she says.

    I suppose we envy what we don’t have. She thinks I have an easy life. Maybe I do. But, just once, I wish I could go out to a coffee shop.

    What would you like to do differently, or try just once, that you haven’t done before?

    Daily writing prompt
    What are you doing this evening?
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  • How to Create Adventure in Your Comfort Zone

    How to Create Adventure in Your Comfort Zone

    Each day, we start with the same number of hours, minutes, and seconds to spend how we choose. We have the power to make each day special or different. Some days stand out more than others, like attending a wedding, a birthday, or a graduation. Or they stand out for other reasons, like a funeral, job loss, or extreme illness. 

    Those days are atypical. But if it’s a workday, how can you turn a typical day into a memorable one? You can change the little things, like the screen saver on your computer, eat something different for lunch. You can change the greeting for your coworker from the usual, “Hi, how are you?” to “Hello, how will you make today special?” Your coworker will likely stop and stare.

    It’s easy to say that we had a typical day because we got up at the usual time, did our usual morning routine, went to work, and then had the usual commute back home before having a bland dinner. Five days a week can pass like that and it’s okay to enjoy the comfort of a drama-free routine.

    But when you think about it, five days a week, fifty somewhat weeks in a year (depending on how many weeks you work) is a huge chunk of your life that’s typical or routine. You don’t have to live it that way. 

    I challenge you to try something different to change your daily routine and keep it fresh. Your mind will notice the details when you slightly change your route to work, or check out a new place for lunch. 

    You’re also setting new goals for yourself. You might learn something new if you pause to talk with someone you’ve never spoken to before—a neighbor, a coworker, or the cashier at the coffee shop. 

    Tomorrow, ask yourself, “Was today typical?” or did you change things up just a little bit?

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    Daily writing prompt
    Was today typical?
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  • Would you prefer a long boring life or a short adventurous one?

    Would you prefer a long boring life or a short adventurous one?

    Facing a pack of wolves while on a hike, climbing up a mountain in subzero temperatures, chasing dangerous criminals, investing in the stock market… these are all examples of a lifestyle a writer would prefer to experience from behind a laptop. The question of lifestyle preferences is what got me thinking: would you prefer a long, boring life or a short, adventurous one?

    Daily writing prompt
    What bores you?
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    The answer to that question, of course, depends on the answer to another question: what bores you? As you know, I’m a writer, so I get excited over a new book to read, and I’m happy when I have the perfect cup of tea to enjoy during a quiet afternoon. I prefer to read about other people’s adventures exploring the Amazon Rainforest, crossing the North Sea, or discovering who (or what) lives in that haunted house across the street.

    There is a line in the movie Troy which I don’t remember word for word, but it goes something like this: Achilles’s mother says if he doesn’t fight at Troy, he can have a family and his children and grandchildren will remember him for a few generations before his name disappears. He can have a long, predictable life. If he fights at Troy, he will die young but he will be remembered for thousands of years as a gallant soldier and hero.

    Some people want to take risks to do what they love, such as climbing Mount Everest, traveling to risky destinations around the world, or participating in risky sports.

    Some people can’t take risks or do whatever they want because they have children, a spouse, or aging parents who depend on them. Sometimes the choice is ours, and sometimes it isn’t, depending on our life situation. People with responsibilities need to play it safe. They can’t risk their savings on cryptocurrency or invest thousands of dollars in a new startup company.

    What one person thinks of as a boring life, another person does not. We don’t know what challenges another person is facing, such as disabilities that are invisible to us. Or a long-term illness. That reclusive neighbor who is always at home might be dealing with trauma, and it is a huge achievement just to go out with a few friends.

    Some lives are cut short as a result of an accident or illness. But if they had a good life and they fought a good fight to keep going, it’s still a great life. Sometimes you don’t get to choose.

    So is it better to live a long, boring life or a short and adventurous one? This would depend on what you want out of life. What is boring to you? What is fulfilling to you? Either choice is good. If you can look back on your life with a smile, then you’ve done well.

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