“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood; an inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” G.K. Chesterson, 20th century English author
A dear friend of mine is currently in jail. She calls it a Divine mix-up, and it certainly is a huge inconvenience. She vowed that no matter what, this would be the greatest adventure of her life.
Her first adventure was to learn the language and the rhythm of this new world. Fear, uncertainty, dread…pervasive, palpable. Breathing in, breathing out, my friend’s touchstone, as she acknowledged each emotion. She set about finding small wonders in the midst of a hard, foreign and unforgiving landscape. Sunrises and sunsets became promises of new beginnings.
Within a week an inmate asked her for reading lessons. The following week two other women came, asking to be shown how to stay calm. She taught them to meditate. Now a small group of like-minded women meet weekly in a support group: their self-appointed task to share the miracles and beauty around them. My friend, a Jewish woman prays daily with a Muslim. Together they turn to their G-d in time of need. They accept each others diffferences and celebrate their similarities. Each of them works to live in the moment. That is all they have.
My friend has created a ripple effect that touches everyone she meets. Inmates say, “Why are you so happy – don’t you know you are in prison?” “Yes,” she answers, “What does that have to do with my happiness?” They stare at her, mouths open. They wonder what makes her her tick. She has become a curiosity – and a role model for new possibilities and dreams yet unborn.
They ask, “Is it possible to change my life?” “Yes,” my friend answers emphatically, “of course.” She teaches them to visualize, dream, set goals. They ask her if she will help those that long to change and don’t know how. ”Yes and yes again,” she says. The guards don’t know what to make of her; the inmates are puzzled; and the Divine adventure continues unfolding. Lives are touched and changed in this most unlikely of places.
Is there an adventure in your life that is wrongly understood? Consider choosing happiness. Dare to take yourself out of prison (for a misunderstood adventure is a self-imposed prison of judgment) and choose to find the adventure in your life. Why not…only you can declare an inconvenience an adventure. Make up your mind, and set yourself free to discover and grow.
My friend has decided that if G-d is good, then everything that happens to her is for her greatest good….and then she gets busy looking for the adventure.
G. K. Chesterson was called the eccentric prince of paradox. Perhaps he and my friend are connected to the same source of wisdom that helps turn an inconvenience into an adventure! Life happens. What you do with it is up to you. That, my friends, is the great paradox of living brilliantly.
