Completely Different
Are there modern day adventures? That is the question posed by a friend during a recent conversation. With the obvious implication that we live dull uninteresting lives I would dare to say that we do not experience adventures in the way that popular fantasy tales describe adventures. The great and perilous oddesey with heroes and villains are either things of the past that the vast majority of us will never see, or they are just tales that are entertainment with no basis in reality.
The epidemic that is sweeping through our society is not some virus or bacteria rather it is the infectious disease of passivity. Many people have no purpose in their lives. I can tell you that there are many college students that have no idea what they are here for, they live their lives one weekend to the next, one drink to the next with no idea where they are heading in life. With no goals or direction to your life you end up drifting and it�s pretty easy to go from lucky break to just plain broke in this world.
So my friend has decided after two and a half years of school that he still doesn�t know what he is here for, or where he wants to go. Not being in school this semester and with no real job to tie him down he is seriously considering setting out on a modern day adventure. Hitchiking across the nation may not seem like the most glamorous way to go on a great adventure, but I have no doubt that a journy like that will turn into a truly interesting journey. I feel sorry for those that are still searching, the answer seems pretty obvious to me, I am living for the big man, J.C. After that everything else seems pale and worthless. Yet, there is still nothing wrong with seeking an adventure. The need for adventure is pretty deeply rooting in each man�s personality. It�s seen as a sort of escape from the mundane pressures of reality. People realize that they are stuck in a boring life that isn�t going anywhere and then they go see Lord of the Rings on the big screen and they feel all warm and fuzzy inside because they all of a sudden think that the world is an exciting place where great feats are possible and good always triumphs over evil.
My own life isn�t as exciting as an epic tale of bravery, but I am not dissapointed with where I am or where I am going. I have a good job, a great boss, lot�s of other activities to keep me busy, such as my weekly radio show, and also my involvement with Campus Crusade. And of course we cannot forget to mention my lovely girlfriend Becca who always makes my life more interesting and exciting. With the addition of my responsibilities to the fraternity to that list of commitments it�s a miracle I have any free time left at all. What little time I have left over can be sunk into the many hobbies that I enjoy so much. Honestly I think that juggling all the elements in my life is plenty of adventure already. But there certainly is something tempting about the image of a man on his own living for his own purposes and being obligated to nothing and no-one. The renegade is truly an image of the opposite life to what most men in this society experience, and therefore it is desired, on some level, by all of us.