I think my biggest fear is that I may become a boring person (or maybe I already am). That some day somebody might ask me what I did today and all I can respond with is, "not much". That's the poorest answer. That's a boring answer, a conversation ender. Where do you go from there?
I have slight heart palpitations when I know that my day is going to turn into me donning my sweats too early, consuming copious amounts of tea and overly buttered toast, and pretending to do uni work. I have a million other better ideas about what I could be doing, should be doing, tormenting me. Should I go and explore a new trail or start that assignment that's due in 3 days? I could probably do both if I stopped working at a Facebook to study ratio of 1:2.
I've been living a life of routine for about 11 weeks now. Work here, study there. Do something cool on Saturdays, shop on Sundays, meal-prep Mondays, repeat steps 1 through 5. That's right, my weekly planner includes the words "be cool" on Saturday. I have to plan for that kind of spontaneous behaviour. I really hope it's just a phase. But I feel shit if I don't have a good story come Monday morning. I want to tell tales of frolicking through fields and sliding down waterfalls. This rarely happens.
The best way to overcome the shitness of realising your living a pretty average life is to take a holiday. Take a solid chunk of time and make up for all those lost hours you spent milling about doing what can only be described as nothing.
Admittedly, the last time I went away I was on one of those under 30's holidays. I spent most of my nights with my hands around a mug of Lipton and getting tripped out on K-Pop in my hotel room. My counterparts were out getting drunk, smashing walls and loosing each other. I may have been playing it safe but at least I got to laugh at the guy who mistook some innocent sweat bumps for something more sinister and sexually transmitted. And you know what, I don't even care that my tour nickname was 'Mum'.
But let's be fair here. I had just spent the previous two months as a lone-wolf climbing hills in Nepal. And I function best when I have to look after myself. It was a stereotypical (Australian dominated) tour that got me feeling like I was being shepherded (Charlie) around a communist county (Vietnam). It was all, go here but not there, try this but don't bother with that. When there is no challenge it's easy to shut off, and that's when things get boring and life looses it's excitement.
You don't have to take that solid chunk of time I suggest for an expensive getaway to a far away beach to sip on coconuts. But you need to revel in the real world, gain experience and value your existence. Cause you're better than the sweat pant (or the fancy-ironed-chino) wearing over-consumer who for 48 weeks of the year pretends life doesn't exist outside of their 50km radius. There is no need to be 95% boring 100% of the time.
Your ambitions should be greater than your fear of breaking routine. And your relationships should be challenging and engaging. Inspire one another to have great life stories. And if it's your love life that's rubbish, don't try and fix it with a puppy. It's probably rubbish because you're both boring and you don't have the heart to tell each other.
Be excitable, don't be two boring people being boring together.
I believe passion makes an average person an outstanding person. And I need to remind myself of this all the time, to be passionate about what you are learning and what you can teach. And if you're more passionate about the toast to peanut butter ratio than the vodka to orange juice, that's okay. It's also okay if you enjoy your nights alone rather than out grinding under strobe lights. Know what you love, do what you love, and when you want to; share what you love.
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