Great piece, and I completely agree. I do think you can find both adventure and achievement but it takes a slight mindset shift.
For example, turning up every week at the same parkrun and trying to beat your previous time (nothing wrong with that by the way), will only really get you achievement.
But perhaps heading to a different parkrun, maybe a really challenging one on a trail or the beach, will add that adventure element. You probably won’t achieve a PB but you can still race full on and finishing would be both an achievement and adventure.
I agree it comes down to mindset. I did do a bit of a tour with parkrun this year where I went to my 10 nearest parkruns which was good fun. I think everyone was over 30 minutes which myself 5 years ago would have been appalled at but I really enjoyed trying new ones out and found a new few places I now enjoy walking the dog too!
Completely agree that too much is put on the tangible comparables and not enough on the journeys and stories you make getting there.
Your piece reminded me of a great quote from "In Thin Air" by Jon Krakeur. "You didn't conquer Everest that day, but you did conquer your ego, and that's a summit most people will never reach." The challenges people set out to achieve often get in the way of better decisions that will ultimately fulfill them in a more holistic way.
Great piece, and I completely agree. I do think you can find both adventure and achievement but it takes a slight mindset shift.
For example, turning up every week at the same parkrun and trying to beat your previous time (nothing wrong with that by the way), will only really get you achievement.
But perhaps heading to a different parkrun, maybe a really challenging one on a trail or the beach, will add that adventure element. You probably won’t achieve a PB but you can still race full on and finishing would be both an achievement and adventure.
I agree it comes down to mindset. I did do a bit of a tour with parkrun this year where I went to my 10 nearest parkruns which was good fun. I think everyone was over 30 minutes which myself 5 years ago would have been appalled at but I really enjoyed trying new ones out and found a new few places I now enjoy walking the dog too!
Completely agree that too much is put on the tangible comparables and not enough on the journeys and stories you make getting there.
Your piece reminded me of a great quote from "In Thin Air" by Jon Krakeur. "You didn't conquer Everest that day, but you did conquer your ego, and that's a summit most people will never reach." The challenges people set out to achieve often get in the way of better decisions that will ultimately fulfill them in a more holistic way.
I like that quote! I'm very much curiosity first nowadays. Perhaps too much judging by how our of breath I got walking up a hill yesterday 😬
If a 5k run takes me an hour now I find it time we'll spend because the chances are I spent half of it stopping to look around and notice things.