Never Stop Exploring
While everyone has their own thoughts on life and its challenges, I think life is an amazing thing. Every single morning is an opportunity to start over. In some way. In every way. Every day can include some kind of adventure or exploration. Of a new hobby. Of a passion as yet unexplored. Or perhaps of your neighborhood. A hiking trail. A bird’s nest. A new type of music. Maybe a new author. A podcast that interests us. Even when we’re busy with life and work and challenges, there is always a moment to try or learn something new.
“Never Stop Exploring” is not a phrase I came up with myself. I found this desk decoration in a local store and thought it was perfect for my new desk. Especially since the new desk was in a new office in a new home in a new state. Which all started from some exploration. The “Hey, let’s vacation in Montana – we’ve never been there” which turned into several years of Montana exploration. “Ohh, let’s check out the middle of the state!” and then “Let’s go to the northwestern part of the state!” Before we knew it, a bit of exploration of the United States turned into a decision to sell our home, pack up our stuff, and move across country.
But exploring doesn’t have to be so dramatic. Learning something new is an exploration of sorts. Right now the entire world is experiencing a time like no other. At the time of this writing, many of us in the United States have been pretty much stuck at home for at least three or more weeks. Other parts of the world have been dealing with this for months. So there are no events to attend, stores to wander around in, traveling to new places to do. So we have to take our exploring in a different direction.
For example, I’ve been taking a lot of online courses over the last month or so. I’m learning some new things and researching various options for giving some lift to my business when this is all over. It’s really amazing how many different ways a real estate business can go. So I’ve been doing a bit of career exploration.
I’ve also decided this is the year I’m going to learn how to plant things that don’t die on me! So besides a vegetable gardening course I took earlier this year, I’ve been doing some investigating into what kind of plants do well where I now live. And then I tried to order seeds. That was a study of its own since many seed companies are sold out of the things I wanted to plant. So then it was on to an exploration of other options. That was quite the challenge which took a lot more time than I expected it to.
And then there is the exploration of our property. I am blessed to be able to do that, as I know many people can’t just wander outside into the woods. But because I can, I take advantage of the opportunity. Finding tracks of new animals I hadn’t noticed before or watching as plants turn green in a location where I’ve never spent a Spring – those are both interesting and new.
For those who don’t have an outside to explore, there might still be interesting and new things you’ve never noticed right outside your window. If you’re normally rushing around commuting to work and now you’re working from home, step away from the computer for a few minutes. Turn off anything that’s making noise, go to the window, throw open the sash and listen. Are there birds chirping that you never noticed? Do you know what kind they are? Are they having conversations with each other? Is there someone sitting out on their balcony who you’ve never met before? Are the clouds presenting some unique designs? Just because we’re adults doesn’t mean we can’t picture things in the clouds as they drift above. Or that we can’t stomp on a crunchy ice puddle when we see one. Who said being a grown up has to be boring with no exploring of any kind?
I noticed this interesting phenomena when I looked out my window yesterday morning. Did you know ice can grow like long fingernails?
After a relatively mild winter, we woke up on April 1st (haha, April Fools Day) to about four or so inches of snow. During the day, the temperature increased and the snow started to melt and drip off the roof. Overnight, it got cold again and the icicles curled underneath the roof. I don’t remember ever seeing that happen before and I thought it was so interesting. Is looking out the window and finding something new exploring? I’d say yes. Yes it is.
So for anyone reading this far, I wish you a wonderful day that has some kind of exploration in it. In my book of life, exploring is what keeps life interesting. And who knows where it might take you! Perhaps to a mountain in the woods of Montana.
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