When did everyone get so boring?
No offence, but really... where has the fun gone?!
I couldn't wait to grow up and have the freedom to do whatever I wanted. To be spontaneous. To live my life to the fullest, and not let anything hold me back. Up until now, I think I've done a pretty decent job fulfilling this philosophy. I've went on spur of the moment vacations. I've jumped out of a plane because it seemed like the best activity to do on short notice. I've gone on road trips, photo shoots, and adventures because they sounded like fun. These days I'm wondering who I've become and where the fun in me has gone.
It doesn't help that everyone else is so stuck in their daily routines that they don't have time to do much else. As somebody who absolutely hates making concrete plans, I find it excruciatingly painful trying to organize hanging out with friends weeks in advance. I suppose if there is one thing that I miss about Dubai, it's the like-minded people that I knew there. The kind of people who say "Let's go to Paris for the weekend" or a little bit of a less extreme "Hey, I'm bored... want to go for coffee, say, now?". That doesn't happen here. Spontaneity is relatively non-existent. Weekend trips are planned months in advance, and even a simple coffee date has to be penciled in ahead of time.
I realize that people are busy. I realize that a lot of things cost money and that a lot of people my age have family commitments that make it difficult to sway from the routine. Still, I find it sad. We take for granted our youth, our health, and our ability to enjoy living to the max.
It doesn't have to be much. Go for coffee with a friend that you haven't seen in far too long. Get in the car and drive with no destination. Go for a walk. Try something new. Buy a one way ticket across the world. Okay, that last one might take a teensy bit of planning ahead, but nothing is impossible. Come on people, be spontaneous! Live a little!
As I sit here flipping through photos of the last few years of my life, I'm missing my old self. It's not entirely a bad thing, because I'm now feeling inspired to get out and do something fun. So you know what I did today? I went to the gym. Random and adventurous? No. But I typically only go at night, so it was a whole new way to spend my afternoon. On the way home, I stopped at Wal-Mart for the sake of enjoying my day... it's one of my favourite places to be, as crazy as that makes me sound. I came home and made some Vietnamese salad rolls! Oh, and I blogged. Even though I didn't intend to blog. I know it doesn't sound that exciting, but I broke away from the routine and I made my day a little bit better just by doing things that weren't planned. You should try it, right about now!