Adventure is saying yes despite your fear

I am writing this sitting in front of Expedition Everest, having gone on the expedition but wishing I hadn’t. My motion sickness doesn’t allow backward motion, but all day long I have watched intrepid travelers traverse the terrain in train cars up the mountain, and I wanted to be one too. So I rode. And now I’m sitting because my head feels like it’s on backward.

Maybe you’re like me and you want to go adventuring too. It’s tough to do right now given any number of things that might kill you right outside your door (and maybe inside depending on if you live with a temperamental cat… we call ours Mowgli). And yet… the unknown calls us. What’s around the river bend? Is there more to life than we have seen, and if so, how do we chase it?

If there is one thing Disney does right, it’s to encourage adventure. Don’t make me quote Up, people. It’s everywhere. From the timid Dumbo clutching a feather to our book-loving Belle twirling around en Provence and wishing for the great wide somewhere, we see again and again this theme of seeking out that which is uncharted (and a little unnerving) and venturing forth despite all doubt.

As I sat here making my stomach like me again, I witnessed a dad coming out of the Serka Zong Bazaar (AKA obligatory post-ride gift shop) high-fiving his daughter and saying, “See? I knew you could do it!” She grinned at him and you could see it. The moment when her world expanded with more possibilities because she faced her fear of the unknown.

I don’t know about you, but I want more moments like that. Moments where I tried something new and didn’t die, but rather lived more than I thought I could.

And that’s what Disney has given me.

Times when my teenage brother encouraged me to join him on the big roller coasters even though I was scared because he wanted to share his love of them with me by his side.

Moments when I didn’t know what would happen when I linked up to an Avatar (and was slightly terrified) but soared over the Pandora landscape in awe and giddiness for getting to “fly” for the first time.

Seconds in between deciding if I’m in or out, if I want to ride or sit on the sidelines watching while others brave the expedition, or grab a Sherpa and take that first step up the mountain.

Adventure is simply saying yes despite your fear, and Disney has given us plenty of opportunities to practice the overcoming.

Granted, our adventuring looks different these days. When the choice isn’t “Disney Tokyo or Hong Kong?” but rather “Do we watch a Marvel marathon in the living room or work a Space Mountain puzzle in the dining room”, we are left wondering if all our dreaming is truly at an end.

But here’s what I know: I can see that second star to the right from my bedroom window, and it looks as spectacular as ever.

The world hasn’t gotten smaller even if it feels that way. My precocious young daughters spent a solid 15 minutes in the car the other day fighting about who gets to wish on what star they saw outside as the twilight descended (we concluded they could each have a star on their side of the car, to keep it fair). When asked by my eldest why her dreams have never come true that she’s wished, I answered simply: You just haven’t waited long enough yet.

Maybe the adventure you have always dreamed of has been postponed for a season. Or perhaps it’s going to look a bit different than what you had planned. But that is all part of this grand adventure we are exploring… realizing that we can’t have what we thought we always wanted and realizing how little we needed it after all. That there is a better plan.

Embracing it is the true adventure.

What Disney story or attraction has inspired you into the unknown? Let me know in the comments below! (And raise your hand if you also suffer from crippling motion sickness on Expedition Everest and Mission Space! ?)

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