When I was 21 or 22 years old, I read the quote by Helen Keller, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” It struck a chord in me and made absolute sense that life would be wasted if not lived to the fullest, lived as a daring adventure. And so, the journey began.
Now more than ever, I’m driven to make my life remarkable. Why? I’ve been too close to dying too many times to take life for granted. I’m alive only because of body parts I’ve borrowed from other people. The coma preceding my transplant brought me within hours of death. The year before, my heart stopped, twice. CPR is my friend.
Beyond the perspective of living and dying, I’ve also seen the extremes of life, the very highs and the very lows. I’ve lived through financial success and struggle, deep friendships and isolation. I’ve had wonderful days of marriage and crawled through the dark days of divorce. In short, I’ve experienced life, like everyone else.
My perspective is not a pie-in-the-sky, ignore the circumstances optimism that only acknowledges the sunshine and roses of life. I’ve lived the full spectrum… good, bad, joyful, sad, happy, proud, miserably depressed, and fully alive. The one thing that has remained consistent throughout. I want my life to be a daring adventure. I want to live it to the very fullest.
I want others to do the same.
