Escaping What?

In starting a blog, I started to read a lot more blogs. It’s astonishing how many posts there are about escaping your job, your office, your company, your cubicle, your co-workers, your commute, your home, your neighbors, your friends, and even your family. In other words, “escaping” your life.

As someone living the outdoor/adventure lifestyle, this strikes me as fairly drastic thinking. Sure we want to do better in all facets of our lives, raise standards, be happier and more enlightened. But what is realistic and most likely to put us on such a road?

Too often I see people trade out their current lives to “start over” again here in the mountains. Drawn by the appeal of anything that is the antithesis of their current existence, a new home, a new culture, and a new environment make for a huge change. But too often, it doesn’t work out so well. It was too much change too quickly and people were never well situated to gain a decent "outside looking in" perspective of themselves and successfully evaluate such a change in the first place. They never quite knew or understood what it was that they were escaping.

Over the years, the happiest people I’ve seen (and continue to see) on the trails and rivers seem to achieve great balance in their lives with a deep understanding of how the activities they love doing integrate into their “bigger picture.” In other words, they are intentional about what they “live for” as opposed to what they are “escaping from.”

I enjoy encouraging and supporting friends to follow paths toward happier pursuits. I’d be the first to admit that changing “realities” is one exciting journey. But on such an important journey, getting the “big result” requires a lot of bite-sized change. “Wholesale Change” thinking is powerful, but implementing small, attainable, and tangible goals into your current lifestyle starts moving you in a better direction.