Today, I watched the Pixar/Disney film, Up. While there were several themes woven together throughout the movie, one really stuck out to me: life is the adventure. Sometimes, we get caught up with wanting to see far away places, and doing amazing stuff. We want to blaze trails, climb mountains, etc. These far away places and amazing events dull the hues of every day life.
If you aren't familiar with the movie, it is about an old man, Carl, who ties thousands of helium-filled balloons to his house so he can travel to South America in order to keep a promise. A young boy, Russell, accidentally stows away on the floating house and tries to help Carl fulfill his mission. Although Russell is a "Wilderness Explorer" (think cub scout), he hasn't really had any experience exploring the wilderness. Carl spent his lifetime loving his childhood sweetheart, and after losing her fears he failed her. The life they loved so much seems incomplete with one of their (her) biggest dreams unfulfilled.
I spent much of my adolescence watching adventure movies, and yearning to taste some of that excitement. Family vacations were never exciting because we weren't finding pirate treasure or capturing some notorious outlaws, or stopping the end of the world. Yet, my parents tried to take us to far away places, and show us things we couldn't see in our world. (Thanks Dad and Mom for the effort, even thought we were usually [always] ungrateful and hateful).
Up reminded me that the life we live is the adventure. Everyday we write another chapter, experience another caper, laugh and cry, grow and change. Everyday is an adventure filled with many lessons and memories. Some of our destinations are not exotic, but they're real. Some of the events in our lives aren't exciting, but we experience them.
If we are always looking for the next adrenaline rush, we might just miss out on the amazing, albeit, humdrum adventure that is our life. I'm not saying it is wrong to look for adventure. What I am saying is don't miss the adventure around you, because it isn't as exciting as the "dream" adventure you want to go on someday.
In the movie, Russell reflects on the time he shared with his dad doing exciting stuff, and then explains how the ended their adventures by sitting on a bench eating ice cream and counting cars. He says, "It may seem funny, but the boring parts are the ones I remember the most." It wasn't really the boring things he remembered, it was the time he shared with someone he loved that he remembered. In those simple moments of mutual love and bonding, a lasting impression was made.
By the grace of God, I have got to see parts of this world I never thought I would see. I remember bits and pieces of each adventure, but they aren't the images that fill my mind night and day. Everyday when I look at Delia, my lovely wife, my mind jumps back to our wedding day. She was, and is, so beautiful. Or when I hear Sophia laugh or call me Daddy, or when she holds my hand. My heart is lifted. I have stumbled into a treasure for which I would have never thought to look.
Although it may sound corny, I am living my greatest adventure. Each day we experience a lot of the same old things: love, laughter, tears, joy, sorrow, hope, trust, etc. But it is still an adventure, and we pray for many years of adventure to come. I pray that you, too, will be content to enjoy your adventure. Life is an adventure, live it to the glory of God.
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