I have recently come to terms with the fact that I will probably never be a secret agent. While I would never reject a job offer from the CIA, the reality is that high-stakes baccarat, flashy gunfights and beautiful Russian women who happen to be double agents won’t be part of my future — at least, not any time soon.
I came to this realization while making some important decisions about my career — both during college and beyond. I’ve selected my major, I’ve put together classes for the next couple of year, and I’m making plans to work over the summer.
Working through these choices, I thought about some of my childhood fantasies. I was going to be a world traveler, an award-winning film director, a cult favorite actor, the first man to walk on Mars and the man who made important discoveries about time travel without actually solving the mystery — because putting checks and balances on my fantasies was, obviously, of huge importance to me. Of course, I also planned on achieving these goals at the same time.
Now in college, I look at these wild daydreams the same way I look at my kindergarten crayon scribbles. My future no longer seems so fantastical — I’m trading the dunes of Mars for a good engineering job and a regular seat on the subway.
Rethinking my future isn’t the result of some naive, teenage angst over aging. The moment I become one of those people who groans, “I’m so old!” after learning “Finding Nemo” came out in 2003 is the moment I lose all hope. Rather, I’m analyzing my situation to consider how I might approach important decisions in the future.
I’ve always considered myself adventurous, but there have been times I was faced with a risky option and made the safe choice. I opted to go to a school close to home instead of across the country in California. I decided to pursue a career in engineering instead of screenwriting. Was I wrong not to go out on a limb, to ignore the invitation of the wide blue yonder?
Lately, I’ve reached the conclusion that I am perfectly fine choosing safe or secure paths as long as these choices do not compromise my character or goals. I know I’ll be happy and fulfilled with an engineering job, and a regular seat on the subway is ridiculously convenient. However, I’m also planning to be more proactive about taking calculated risks and questioning my preconceptions.
When we think about “being adventurous,” we conjure up images of climbing Mount Everest, scavenging the Caribbean for pirate treasure, dropping everything and following the passion your high school teachers told you to brush aside because it doesn’t have any job security. These ideas are wonderful and outlandish, and we can easily label them “adventurous.”
At its core, though, being adventurous isn’t about changing your whole lifestyle — it’s about challenging your comfort zone. I’ve talked to people who are bored because they believe they’ve exhausted all interesting opportunities where they live. However, opportunities to break from norms exist everywhere. A guy with two left feet who takes swing dancing lessons is just as much of a daredevil as the guy who goes to Alaska to wrestle polar bears — even if it’s not as obvious.
Maybe I won’t puzzle out the spacetime continuum or leave my footprints on Mars, but I’ll be content with myself no matter what. As long as I am confident enough to challenge my own routine, I am capable of finding adventure no matter where I am. Besides, who am I to say the next person I meet won’t be a Russian double agent?
John’s column runs biweekly Fridays. He can be reached at j.benenati@cavalierdaily.com.
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