Life is full of adventures…  Sometimes small, sometimes life changing and others time difficult to distinguish from the everyday.

For many of us we think of adventures as something that has to be huge, or monumental in some way.

Indeed, prior to me rethinking my life I would have sat squarely in this vein of thinking as well.

However, the more I reflected on what constituted a full, and fulfilling life it became clear that you can make anything an adventure with the right mindset.

Sure, the big stuff is awesome and memorable, but living a complete life is experiencing and engaging in the everyday which is where we often spend most of our time.

This past weekend’s adventures included friends over for a BBQ and swim in the pool, and then Sunday we decided to drive up to Maleny in the Glasshouse mountains for breakfast.

It’s only a 30 – 40 min drive depending on construction on the M1 so quite accessible.

At our regular breakfast place, the coffee machine was broken, so it was a no go for my New Yorker wife who desperately requires coffee first thing in the morning…

No worries as we had quite a few cafes choices to choose from.

We were pleasantly surprised with the brekkie at Monica’s and will definitely visit it again.

After breakfast and a stroll, including the town market at the local RSL hall we decided on the spur of the moment to take the drive up to Montville, some 18 kms further north.

We had a beautiful morning, and the rolling hills of the hinterland were bathed in sunshine and a heavy dew.  Even a little fog as we made our way up from the coastal plains.

You may think these are relatively “meh” type activities, but I find that it’s these little spur of the moment decisions that lead us to unexpected adventures.

When we got to Montville we walked the tree-lined street, and given the early hour many of the stores were not yet opened.

Recently Judy and I had purchased a large Balinese day bed (yet to be delivered), which needs a large cover for the cushion on the base.

Serendipitously we discovered a store in Montville that had just the style and design that would both fit and suit the new daybed.

Sometimes it feels like you’re led to somethings in life… this being one of them.

We spent about 30 minutes exploring the store which had some incredible fabrics, cushions and decorative ideas for our alfresco area at home.

If it didn’t already feel like a high-end spa before our recent purchases it’s sure to soon!

But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

It could be as simple as a walk on the surf beach at Woorim on Bribie Island, or a hike up Mount Coolum.  simple is often best if you know what I mean.

However, these little jaunts can turn into some great experiences and memories if you let them just flow.

When I lived in Toronto, on a weekend I’d often spent a day exploring the many neighbourhoods around the city.

Starting from home I’d walk, sometimes across the city with my camera in tow just to see what I could discover.  In fact, during some of these mini adventures I’d end up walking between 15 – 20 kms and capturing between 500 – 1000 photos.

I have literally thousands of photos to show for these adventures, each bringing back the moment in time that I took the shot.

When Zach and Sam were small, we’d often spend an afternoon taking the subway downtown just to get ice cream.  Not surprisingly, they still remember those times with fondness.

Clearly, they weren’t huge adventures but small spur of the moment ones.  Just riding the train with the kids, checking out the shops and getting ice cream, nothing fancy to that.

But these indelible memories are the fabric of our lives!

I’m a big believer in life is what you make it.  However, it all starts with you and the way you look at life.

I decided to begin looking at life through this lens and for the past decade my life has been so much richer, wondrous, and exciting.

Nope, we can’t all live the “big life” and have grand adventures everyday, but we can draw significant satisfaction and contentment from these smaller moments.

Only you can make your life what you want it to be.

Remember, you decide everyday about how you’re going to approach the world around you.

Maybe I’m the anomaly here, but a positive mindset always seems to get me through even the toughest of days.

For me there are three important questions you should ask yourself:

Are you curious?  Enjoy exploring the environment around you no matter where you are?  Are you willing and open to trying new things?

If you smiled and nodded at any of these simple questions, then a life of adventure awaits… just tune your mindset, dive-in, and enjoy!

Until next week

Ciao!