Sometime during this past year, I must have had a stroke of inspiration because I wrote down this idea on a random note card that was scattered across my desk.

“There is no life for me but one filled with dreams, imagination and adventure.”

It is inspiring to look at and I quite enjoy the sentiment and idea behind it. But sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when I wrote that down. Yes, I long for adventure and I have big dreams for my life. I sometimes catch myself dreaming my life away, looking at the big adventures, therefore ignoring the little moments in life.

At this point in my life, it’s easy to get caught up in the future. If I linger in conversation with any adult long enough, the dreaded question of my future will pop up, uninvited. My thoughts dwell on what I’m going to do next year and with the rest of my life. I’ve got a countdown to graduation on my phone. But in all of these things, I am missing out on some of my senior year.

That quote I created captured where my thoughts lie. Life isn’t one big adventure, it’s all the little things in between that make it meaningful. I’m not trying to get all sentimental here, but there is definitely truth in this subject.

I may not exactly know what I want to do with my life, but I’ve always had a desire to travel far away and explore new things. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, I forget that there are things I can explore here, with my family, in the familiar setting. That’s still adventure, regardless of what country it takes place in.

There’s another quote I have on my desk. It has no author, it simply reads from an ancient proverb. It says this: “There are some who do not fear death for they are more afraid of not really living.”

I probably wrote this down because it inspired me to travel and use my imagination. But in reality, it speaks nothing of foreign lands and the like; it speaks gently of living. I think oftentimes, it’s easy to get caught up in big plans and adventurous mindsets, especially when I think about what I want to do with my life. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with traveling, dreaming big and adventure in far off places.

But if we spend too much time thinking about how we can leave, we miss the things that are right in front of our faces. There’s a reason why my parents live where they do and why they’ve stayed here to raise my brother and I. There’s good here, in the quiet and simple places, and that’s just as valuable as the lessons learned from far off places.

So go travel, adventure, dream and explore, and know that I will too. Just don’t forget to value the familiar things, the little things and home along the way.