Choosing which paths to take in life would be easy if we could know what lies beyond the horizon with any semblance of certainty. But alas, as writer Natalie Goldberg eloquently put it in Wild Mind:
“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make life so, right in the middle of it, we die, lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.”
So how do we choose? Well, in recent months, I find myself returning over and over again to a simple phrase that came to me one day almost two decades ago:
“There are certain experiences that are only available to those who are willing to have them.”
I love this, because it motivates me to do some things … and reminds me why not to do others.
Acting on any idea or dream is by definition a leap of faith. You can’t possibly know how it will turn out, because “it” hasn’t happened yet. You need to be willing to take a leap, and you need to be willing to take everything that comes with that leap.
One of my best friends is a bush pilot and a climbing guide. When people meet him and hear of his professions they often say, “Wow. I wish I could do something like that.”
He likes to remind them that they can … but that they choose not to.
He called me last night from Alaska to share his latest experience guiding clients up Mt. Denali, and I must admit that a part of me was envious. But when he told me about navigating via GPS in a whiteout for hours on end, about hauling out three weeks’ worth of human waste, and about friends elsewhere on the mountain who were first on the scene after two experienced climbers tragically fell more than 2,000 feet to their deaths a few days ago—my envy quickly faded.
Whenever I grow weary of urban life and hear his tales of adventure, whenever he grows weary of living paycheck to paycheck and longs to own his own home, we remind ourselves:
“There are certain experiences that are only available to those who are willing to have them.”
As you consider your own life choices, try pondering them in the context of this simple phrase. When it occurred to me, I was just out of college and working as a sea kayaking guide. 18 years later, it still rings true.
(I explored these concepts of risk, reward, fear, and faith in more detail in an essay I wrote about my first summer guiding in the San Juan Islands.)
