Prospect 06'

In light of Retrospect 05’, I’ve been thinking a lot about what the upcoming year will hold, what my goals will be, and what things I might try to change. As was probably obvious in my retrospect post, I have found my self becoming slightly unsettled with the routine of being a normal working guy. I think one of the things I loved most about college was the constant change. At least twice a year the contents of my average day would be switched up. Some semesters I would have early classes, and some semesters I got to sleep in. Some classes were interesting and exciting, and some classes were designed for catching a nap (something I don’t do very gracefully at a desk). The point is, there was always something different going on and I liked it. I have been thinking of what I could do to make my now predictable life a little more spontaneous and here is a couple of alternatives I have come up with.

Alternative #1: I just finished another book by Donald Miller called “Through Painted Deserts”. Basically, this book is a memoir of a road trip taken by Don and a buddy of his named Paul. Without going into more detail, this book has instilled in me the desire to do the following:
First, I would quit my job and sell my house and most everything else I own. Next I would trade in my Blazer for some sort of van, preferably a VW. I would also have to convince one of my buddies to get in on this (Jeff is usually down for stuff like this). So, with my van, my buddy, and my guitar, I would just start driving. There would be no specific destination and no pre selected routes. We would just drive. In the winter we would hit ski resorts all over Northern America. In the summer we would surf any beach we could get our hands on. If we ran out of money we would work odd jobs. Living in a van down by the river can’t be that expensive can it? I would be hippie. Not in the free love, free mind sense, but in the free spirit sense. So, that’s alternative #1.

Alternative #2 is inspired by a movie I recently saw and is probably a bit more of a stretch, but doable. The movie: Godfather part 1. Yes, I would like to be a gangster. Not a gansta, a gangster. The location of the dynasty would of course be Fort Collins, Colorado. Now, family is important in the mob, and I don’t think I would be able to convince my family to get involved. So, Jeff, Brent, and I will be sort of an artificial family. Hopefully several other crime families would move their operations into the area since being a gangster really wouldn’t be any fun without rivals. We are not quite sure yet of what kind of illicit criminal activities we will be involved in. If I did know, I probably wouldn’t tell you anyway, since we never speak of family business outside of the family.

Now, in case either of those options just don’t work out, I also have some scaled back goals that will probably help satisfy my need for adventure.

• Climb Longs Peak. We tried once and failed. It won’t happen again.
• Snowboard a lot. Winter 05’ was the first year in about 6 I haven’t been up before Christmas. I am disappointed in myself…
• Be a better guitar player. Yes, I am a music dork and consider guitar an adventure.
• Complete a successful elk hunt (that’s a nice way of saying “shoot an elk”)
• Try Surfing in CA

This list is by no means final or set in stone. I guess when all is said and done; my greatest desire is to participate in the adventure of knowing God and being where He wants me to be. Unlike every thing else I’ve mentioned, that’s the one adventure that never ends and never gets boring.