“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” — Jimmy Johnson
As we grow older, I feel our perspective of excitement alters. It is more likely that on our days off, we will sit in our pajamas and watch Netflix and less likely that we will go outside and ride a bike. Remember when we were kids, and that was all we wanted to do? The wondrous nature of kids is inspiring. Kids get lost in their experiences, deeply entranced in the realms of their imaginations that continue to weave through each experience they have.
A few of my memories are prominent from my childhood that, looking back now, wouldn’t have been the most exciting. Although, in my mind, they were adventures. That’s what makes them so prominent.
The first story I have is probably the most simple story I could tell anybody. I had to have only been ten or eleven, and my mom was gone somewhere for the night. My dad took me and my brother to the mall in Tallahassee. It wasn’t some grand adventure, it’s only about twenty minutes from where I live. I can’t even remember what we went for, but the three of us went to GameStop to buy games for our new Xbox 360 we had gotten. We ended up getting Guitar Hero II, Crash Bandicoot, and De Blob. On the way home, we stopped at Whole Foods and got frozen yogurt at a random fro-yo store. When we got home, the three of us stayed up for hours and played our new games. It was such a simple day, but I know I’ll always remember it.
In my mind, we weren’t driving twenty minutes to Tallahassee. My brother and I were on a journey to a faraway land, dueling in the back seat for the crown of the car and infinite bragging rights. We didn’t arrive at the mall to look for something Dad needed, go in every shop, eat at the food court and buy video games. We arrived at our castle, entering every room, covered in marble, eating the finest meal in our royal dining hall. The video games, to us, were the best purchases of our lives. We air-guitared all the way home and when we got there, we battled it out for the title of “Ultimate Rockstar.”
It may not have exactly been a limousine ride to a castle and I guarantee you nobody in my family is a rockstars, but in my little mind, it was an adventure. More importantly, it’s a treasured memory with my dad. The three of us didn’t argue all day, we just had fun. And to a child (and to a teenager), sometimes fun memories with your brother and dad are all you need to make it an adventure.
This next story is one you’ve probably heard before if we’re close because it means so much to me. My Uncle Buddy used to have a condo right on the beach at Perdido Key in Pensacola, Florida. It was only a few hours away from us and growing up, it felt like my second home. I cherish every memory I ever made at that condo. The first time I ever met my best friend and my cousin, Olivia, was at that condo. However, my favorite memory is one that I recall from a few years ago.
My family had taken a trip down to Perdido to stay with my Uncle Buddy and Aunt Jeannette. They sold it a few years ago, but the entire condo is still so vivid; I can see it perfectly when I close my eyes. A few of us had driven down to Florabama and bought some fish. Naturally, we stayed at the beach and just walked around a little. We went back to the condo around sunset and cooked up the fish and we were just sitting in the living room all eating fish and bonding and watching Catfish. Afterwards, we all went down to the beach and brought our buckets and shovels and nets and played a little game. We went crab hunting, which, to any of my readers who didn’t grow up near a beach, is exactly what it sounds like. After the moon rises, we would go down to the shore and walk miles with our flashlights in one hand and net in the other and scoop up crabs and carry them around in a bucket with sand in it. After we finished our walk, we would stand in a circle, feet bare, and dump over our buckets on the count of three. The little (and big) crabs would scurry around and the one who stood still the longest won.
In my mind, it was the fiercest competition of the century– bigger than the Olympics, the World Cup, no national title could beat the victory of this competition. When we went back up to the condo, my Uncle Buddy had an old jukebox in the corner of the living room, and we played songs on it and danced around until we all fell asleep. Similarly, this story isn’t some grand adventure. It stands out to me because in my mind, it was.
My mind was tangled in my imagination, running away from the waves, having flashlight wars with my brother, chasing down the crabs. That place will always be a part of me, and I know I will always remember that night.
My final story is farther down the grand adventure scale, but it helps me to add to the point of this post. I must have been only eleven when me and one of my best friends, Sydney, took a journey up to Blue Ridge Mountains. We made the long car ride, stayed in the most beautiful cabin, and to this day, it is still one of my favorite places I’ve visited. Specifically, I remember the first time we hiked up a mountain. Even more specifically, I remember quite well the view we had once we got to the top. I felt like we could see the entire world. Nothing could touch us and even though I was exhausted from the hike, the view was so breathtaking that it made it okay.
As we get older, our perspective of excitement alters. But I feel like it is truly important to keep that sense of childlike wonder. The weight of the world may drag you down, but just like the hike to the top of the mountain, with the power of imagination, it doesn’t seem so scary.
You have the capability to turn anything into an adventure.
Think about how you were when you were younger. Imagine that little kid, full of excitement and joy, knocking on your front door. Now invite him or her inside and show him or her around. Look at your life as it is now through the eyes of younger you.
It is so easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos of growing up. But we come to realize that we are a lot happier when we appreciate the little things and we are able to find beauty in the ordinary.
— mal
p.s. I want to shout out Shona Keachie, this post was inspired by hers, “Life is in the Little Things”
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