I’m heading off on a trip and a friend wished me “Safe and adventurous travels.”

My brow furrowed.  How can I do both of those?  Many thoughts floated through my head.  They included:

• Adventure does not equal safe.
• Safe does not equal adventure.
• I actual do want both of those on this trip.  I want to feel safe AND I want to feel a sense of adventure.  I want to try new things, discover new places, take risks, and be okay on the other side.
• I can’t have both.  I can’t be both.

And then I was reminded of one of life’s great lessons – it is full of paradox.  Along with this goes the message that some of the great joy in my life has come from breaking free of either/or thinking and embracing “Yes, both please!”

Practicing discernment, I learn to trust my inner wisdom and have the courage to act upon in.

This is one of my guiding affirmations, and guess what?, it embraces “safe and adventurous”.

Practicing discernment is about being safe.  I do my research.  I get my car serviced before I hit the road.  I let people know my rough timeline.  I’ve got my cell phone with me.

I learn to trust my inner wisdom.  I don’t actually have to have each moment of every day planned out.  I can figure some stuff out as I go. I know that I know how to read a map.

And have the courage to act on it. I’m going for it – I’m going to the trip.  The fact that I don’t know exactly what is going to happen, where I’ll be when, and what I’ll find when I get there – that’s the adventure.  I’m giving myself permission to turn right when I feel like it. I’ll follow my nose.  I’ll listen to the wind.

So yes, I can do both – I can have both of my needs for safety and adventure fulfilled. And I love the prospect of how that might creatively play out as this sort of planned sort of not planned trip gets underway.

What part of your life has you stuck in either/or right now?  What if you invited the possibility of finding a way to have more than one need met at the same time?  Just be prepared for it to look a little different than the scenarios you can see right now.

I wish for you safe and adventurous travels on the road of life.