Benjamin Franklin famously popularized the idea that nothing is certain except death and taxes. A wonderfully cheerful way to begin a conversation, Ben. Nothing says good morning quite like mortality and the IRS.
But let’s focus on the first part.
Life comes with no guarantees, which is precisely why you should actually live it.
Try something new. Sketch. Paint. Ride a bicycle. Run. Cook something you’ve never attempted before. Eat something you can’t pronounce. Learn a language. Travel somewhere you’ve never been. Paddleboard, bowl, pick strawberries, wander through a sunflower field or do something completely ridiculous that makes a great story later.
Why?
Because discovery is one of the great privileges of being alive.
Too many people slowly shrink their world until their entire existence fits comfortably inside a routine. They watch other people travel, explore, create and experience life on television while saying, “Maybe someday.”
Then someday becomes “I should have.”
And that’s a terrible review to leave on your own life.
You don’t have to become an extreme adventurer. Nobody is asking you to climb Everest before breakfast. Just get outside your normal orbit occasionally. Try something you’ve never done. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Talk to someone you don’t know. Say yes to the mildly inconvenient adventure.
And while you’re doing it, bring the people you love along.
Tell them you love them. Make them laugh. Go somewhere together. Try paddleboarding. Go bowling. Pick strawberries. Walk through a sunflower field. Take a ridiculous road trip. Do something ordinary that becomes extraordinary because you’re doing it together.
Memories are the souvenirs of life, and thankfully they don’t require airport security.
I also find it fascinating how many people retreat completely from the world around them. They stay inside, avoid their neighbors, avoid strangers and then complain about how terrible society has become.
It’s difficult to influence the world from behind a closed door.
Meeting people, even briefly, can change someone’s day. A smile, a conversation or a simple act of kindness can remind someone that the world isn’t entirely the dumpster fire the news would occasionally have us believe it is.
Our predecessors understood the value of experiencing the world. They studied, traveled, debated, experimented and took enormous risks. Traveling across the country or the ocean wasn’t exactly a quick weekend getaway with complimentary Wi-Fi and a Starbucks every 14 feet.
They lived.
So should we.
You don’t know how much time you have. None of us do. That’s not meant to be depressing. It’s actually incredibly liberating.
There are no guarantees.
So stop waiting for the perfect time.
Go see something.
Learn something.
Meet someone.
Laugh until your stomach hurts.
Make a memory that you’ll still be talking about years from now.
Because someday, whether we like it or not, the adventure ends.
Until then, get out there and live it.
No guarantees. No regrets.
