Knowing

as kids, my parents would take us away for a vacation.  going as close as lancaster, ohio to swim at a holiday inn or going as far as portland, oregon to the church's general assembly, we got 'out of the city' for some r&r.  often during the summer we kids would visit our grandmother in dayton, leaving our parents to fend for themselves. 

i honed my natural sense of adventure and curiosity, not only during the trip, but also in the anticipation of the trip to come.  when our aaa triptik would arrive, i would spend hours looking at the details of our trip.  then i would refer to the accompanying map to see the whole trip, noting the states through which we would pass and the lakes, rivers, and mountains that would would see. of course, finding any strange and funny names like pee pee creek, tombstone, and truth or consequences brought humor and delight to the anticipation. 

packing my clothes, my adventure tools, and of course my mad magazine, i was off with my family to explore.  and explore we did.  we hit state historical sites (serpent mound was one of my favorites), national parks, and famous cities.  some were thrilling such as the redwood forest.  some were pure joy like knott's berry farm, and some were duds which would be the painted desert. 

staying fairly close to the grand canyon, we were awakened by loud noises in the room next to ours...  at midnight.  we tried our best to sleep, but by 3am, we decided to pack up and head for the canyon, hoping to be rewarded by a canyon sunrise.  calculating the time, and were sitting at the edge of the canyon when dawn was to appear.  we waited...  waited... waited.  it was a short time before we realized that arizona did not change to dst as most of the country had done.  groans and moans were abundant, but we finally saw the beauty of the canyon as the sun rose...  but only one hour later. 

adventures come with exciting surprises, some disappointments, a few miscalculations, occasional close calls, and amazing wonder and awe.  but that is precisely what adventures are...  exploring the unknown... 

sometimes i am confronted with the question, 'if i could know the future, would i want to know?'.  as tempting as it would be, that foreknowledge holds very little interest for me.  i don't like knowing the ending of a novel or a movie before it's time.  knowing ahead of time the people i will meet or the experiences i will have seems silly and boring.  why?  because it would take away from me the adventure, the curiosity, and the surprises of life.  as important as knowledge is to me, future knowledge would be terrible.  life would simply be playing out predetermined events.  it would transform me from an active participant into a passive observer.  no thanks!

whether the adventure is my inside or outside world, i want it to have choices, whether or not they are helpful ones.  even some of my poor choices have led me to some incredible discoveries, painful as they might be. my choices have made me who i am and who i will be.  there is much in life that is out of my control, but my choices are mine.  i own them.  the buck stops here.  i would have it no other way.