As I walk along the trail, I see a crowd ahead. I skip a few metres to my left, leave the trail altogether & scramble over some rocks.
:
A local trek leader hails me to come back to the trail. I see his concern. He is worried I might fall over the boulders. I smile and signal that it’s me. I won’t fall. I’m not being cocky. I know I won’t.
:
I thank my stars that whoever created me, made me a monkey I don’t worry when I see a maze of huge boulders. To me, it’s fun to run over them. I know exactly where to plonk my feet, which rock to jump onto next.
:
A few weeks earlier, I stood on a rock and jumped across a river. A lot of onlookers gasped & thought it was too dangerous. But I had calculated my jump, I knew where I’d land. To me, it wasn’t a risk.
:
Why can’t I just toe the line and walk along the trail? Why do I keep searching for these little adventures? Why do I feel the urge to jump over a blistering stream, when I could just walk across a wooden bridge. What do these things achieve – a wet shoe? Some panting? A smile? What’s this constant need to challenge myself.
:
Because. I know no other way. I remember Legend Christopher Mcandless’ quote, “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure…”
:
Normal doesn’t do it for me. I respect it, but I looove challenging myself. Is that why I couldn’t stay in the corporate world, and forged my own path?
:
All the people on my Instagram I gush abt, are adventurers. @leo.urban jumps trees. What does he get out of it! Its just trees. Well he gets sheer happiness out of it!!
:
@domtomato @robert.wall, @alexhonnold – these are characters, who do marvellous things that don’t make sense to most. They risk their lives according to us – in their heads they know they can do it every time. But what they do has the power to make us gasp and overwhelmingly so.
:
The world needs mavericks as much as it needs practical men. It needs an adventurer as much as an engineer. It needs a Michael Angelo as much as an Einstein, a Sherlock as much as a Madam Curie.
:
So I keep walking. Ahead, I see a chasm between two cliffs. I think I can jump across to the other side. A guide signals me not to. I smile.