“Life was as precious as it was puzzling. It was an ecstasy because it was an adventure; it was an adventure because it was an opportunity.” (G.K. Chesterton, “The Ethics of Elfland” from Orthodoxy)
This quote from Chesterton came from one of our first readings this semester. I copied it down on a piece of paper and taped it up on the wall in my room next to my desk, and I’ve spent the whole semester thinking about it and how it applies to me at this point in my life. As I began considering my past year in light of this quote, I saw exactly what Chesterton was talking about. This year has taken me on an adventure of intense joy, intense pain, excitement, frustration, anticipation, and inspiration. I remember thinking when I was a kid that life would somehow magically make sense when I “grew up” – now I keep realizing more and more that life doesn’t work like that. But in spite of the complicated and puzzling nature of life, it is also full of opportunities and incredibly precious experiences that create this adventure Chesterton wrote about.
This has been my last semester in college, and now that graduation is nearly here I’m about to embark on an entirely new adventure. I still don’t know exactly what that will look like or what it will include, but I think that approaching even the uncertainty ahead with Chesterton’s perspective will make me live with intentionality. I want to use this time in my life to recognize opportunities to grow, serve, and discover, in whatever experiences I encounter. It’s an adventure I’m ready to begin!
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