Are you an adventurer?

pogre · Nov 2, 2012

I'm pretty much a retired adventurer. I have done a lot of jobs. Done some travelling. Tried a lot of activities.

I went through a major career switch a few years ago - yikes 13 years ago now that I think of it. I closed my law practice and began teaching and coaching. My adventures now consist of leading my football team every fall, fishing and camping with my kids, and generally really looking forward to work every day.

My bucket list is amazingly small these days and being content with where I am at is not a bad thing at all. It does mean I am no where close to being an adventurer anymore.

A guy who used to coach with me, Ron Brown, became a life/career/business coach too. He wrote a great little book called The Courageous Life. Ron went from being a nuclear engineer to a youth pastor to a business consultant to a life coach.

Rel · Nov 2, 2012

paradox42 said:
Earlier this year I did something crazy: I signed up for a Spartan Race.

As others have indicated, THAT IS AWESOME. I know a bit about how awesome too because a good friend of mine who posts here at ENW did a Spartan race last year and we're thinking of signing up to do it together next year (or at least the Warrior Dash). It's not messing around! Congrats on the finish!

Mathew_Freeman said:
Rel, it's funny you should have replied to my post earlier. Today I'm about to sit down and do the Strength Finder exercise that you recommended for me. I've been putting it off a bit, but this is the time.

I've also got my appointment to get new actors headshot photos next week.

That is excellent news! Send me your results of the StrengthsFinder and we'll go over them soon!

Dannyalcatraz said:
For me, my newest "adventure" is getting away from my practice space and out of my comfort zone to join a guitar circle. It's a small step in some ways, but its in the right direction, and its a tough one for me personally.

(I hate performance- less stage fright than just a profound dislike of the spotlight in any form.)

See that is a great example of pushing boundaries and forging fear into joy that I love hearing about.

Scott DeWar said:
Until I get A lot stronger, Adventure would be to push the distance I walk, Or a Permanent move to live with my brother and his family, an act that may happen any where from December 2012 to May of 2013. I count this as adventure as I have lived here for 25 years now.

Keep at it, Scott. Staying active is important and we want you around for many years to come.

Dannyalcatraz · Nov 2, 2012

Rel said:
Dannyalcatraz said:

For me, my newest "adventure" is getting away from my practice space and out of my comfort zone to join a guitar circle. It's a small step in some ways, but its in the right direction, and its a tough one for me personally.

(I hate performance- less stage fright than just a profound dislike of the spotlight in any form.)

Click to expand...

See that is a great example of pushing boundaries and forging fear into joy that I love hearing about.

Ahhhh, you have no idea- the core of the group consists of guys who have been playing quite a while at a very high level. Me? I have talent & skills, but have never been disciplined enough to put them all together at the same time. Makes things a bit tricky at times.

And when I say high level, I mean it. The guitar circle was founded by our church's sound engineer, who has been playing a while, but like me, mostly for personal enjoyment. I joined because it will be a stepping stone for me: after a decade of being pestered to join the choir group, I decided to give it a shot...but as a guitarist (my tertiary instrument), not a singer (my primary). So I need to sharpen my chops. SERIOUSLY.

The reasons:

1) the choir director/(lead singer/guitarist/pianist/trumpeter) is a noted Christian rock artist and has a Masters in Jazz from UNT (known in some circles as the "Juliard/Berklee of the South"). He has played for the last 2 Popes; he has recorded with Andy Timmons as his lead guitarist. His compositions are part of the new Catholic service that was launched last year.

2) The pianist is another degreed jazz musician who occasionally tours Japan. I have heard the man play "Take 5" in different time signatures as they were called out to him, changing on the fly.

3) The lead guitarist has been playing gigs in small venues- by choice- for decades, focusing on blues, folk, rock and jazz.

4) The bass player is a lifelong musician who keeps up with all those others.

5) as if that re not enough, there is a jazz musician in the choir, and my Mom- the volunteer "Choir Mom"- was a music teacher.

6) did I mention our church seats @1500, and is frequently SRO because our parish has 30,000 members?

IOW, no excuses, and nowhere to hide. Even though I've played in front of crowds before, if I do this, I will perform before more people in a month's worth of Sundays there than all of my previous audiences combined.

Rel · Nov 3, 2012

Man I'm loving this thread so much. The responses are great!

Your post above, Mr. Alcatraz, took me right back to the day I first discovered that I needed to become a coach. I was sitting in a conference room in a faraway land with a number of pretty well dressed people. I had been invited by a very close friend of mine who has devoted his career to helping people make big business breakthroughs. I'm sitting there and my agenda is "I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing but I know I'm not supposed to be doing what I'm doing." THAT is how little direction and focus I had in that moment.

We go around the room and other people at this workshop include:

A highly successful professional comedian

A financial planner who speaks at dozens of universities every year

A woman who runs a non-profit center for victims of sexual abuse

An ex-NFL player who is helping run a clean energy company

A retired Marine Sergeant Major who is running a company that helps veterans find work that suits the skill sets developed in the military

A woman who is buying a multi-million dollar property to run as a working farm and rehabilitation center for wounded veterans

And a woman who is running three separate companies simultaneously and organizing HUGE social events for celebrities in LA.

I have rarely felt so insignificant. And yet they were all willing to help me dig deep into what I was best at. That was the moment that I really understood two things:

It's not about giving and getting. Giving IS getting.

If I want to be better, I need to spend time with better people.

So I think it's awesome that you're hanging with some pretty intimidating folks. I bet you are going to make some amazing breakthroughs!

Dannyalcatraz · Nov 3, 2012

Its going to be a trial by fire!

But then again, I've often thought of myself as rudderless. Now, quite literally smack-dab in my mid-40s (as of Oct. 18), I may have found my "true calling" as a mediator.

Yeah, I have a huge background (insert fat joke here) in the arts, and I might be able to make my mark in them, but ultimately, I think I'll make a better peacemaker than anything else.* Too many people think I'm too good at it for me to not give it a serious shot. (Then again, I that is a lot like the perceptions of my mentors & peers getting my Sports & Entertaiment MBA.)

Whatever else I do in the arts, it is mainly about giving myself an outlet to keep from going nuts.

* as long as I don't end up like that snake from the most recent episode of Last Resort...

Scott DeWar · Nov 3, 2012

[reverse fat joke] just don't lose weight like I did. the 'induced-coma-for-septic-shock-weight-loss-program' is a terrible way to lose weight.[/reverse fat joke]

Scott DeWar · Nov 3, 2012

Dannyalcatraz said:
* as long as I don't end up like that snake from the most recent episode of Last Resort...

hey! no spoilers!!

Argyle King · Nov 3, 2012

I think I might be. Though, I'd probably be considered a semi-retired adventurer now. I refrain from posting in depth detail because some of it might not be appropriate for a general conversation forum due to the content; a few things are still covered by my NDA for a few more years yet as well. Suffice to say that nearly 50% of my life has been spent either fighting in wars or preparing to go fight in wars. I've talked about some of it during other discussions here on Enworld, but never really in depth.

Though, if you'd ask my friends, they'd probably say that some of the things I've been involved in during my down time (some of it in taverns) is worthy of a story itself. Though, again -due to content- I'm reluctant to share some of the details in a public forum.

All things considered, I miss it. I even miss the times which were terrible to experience. Mainly because 'normal' life tends to be a bit dull in comparison.