“…if you don’t stop and look around once in a while…you might miss it.” – Ferris Bueller

So true. The older I get, the faster life whizzes by. And I don’t want to miss anything.

I started this post on June 22nd and came back to it now because I realized over the weekend that for the most part I get to decide what happens next. I have a picture in my head of what I want my life to  look like, and what I look like living that hypothetical life. And you know what? I really like the way it looks. And I got tired of imagining it and decided to make it happen instead.

It came to my attention last Saturday morning that life has gotten a wee bit predictable…..and slightly uninteresting. I’m not beating myself up over it though because it’s easy to see how these things happen. One day rolls into another and all of a sudden you look back and realize every day looks sort of the same. And when people ask, “What’s new with you?” you fumble over a polite, mind-numbingly awful textbook reply, because the fact of the matter is that nothing that’s going on with you is really that riveting.

Reality of the situation = “interesting” rarely just happens on its own. It doesn’t happen magically by itself. We have to seek it out. We have to surround ourselves with people whose company enriches us. We have to read books that we want to share with others. We have to go places and experience new things that we can’t wait to talk about. This is how life becomes extraordinary.

So I decided to mix things up. I’ve planned six weekend day trips to interesting places over the next three months that are all three hours away or less. I’m going to take the Mini, pack very little other than a camera and a change of clothes, and I’m going to get out and see stuff. And after I’m done thoroughly exploring, I’m going to write about it, talk about it, and plan what’s next.

It’s just a start, but I’m going to get out there and look around…life moves awfully fast, and I don’t want to miss it. And I’ll tell you one thing: next time someone asks, “What’s new with you?” I sure as hell am going to have something awesome to say.