“….that discovery is only available or only necessary if and when our lives are in upheaval? Because if that’s all we’ve got or if that’s all we believe in, then we’ll wait until we’re lost or broken to set sail….”

This TedTalk is about how sometimes discovery is enough.

It doesn’t have to be driven by a traumatic event or extreme discomfort.

Sometimes, you can run to something just because you like to run.

Zoe Romano ran the Tour de France.

She ran across the United States….and was the first woman to do that unsupported.

That’s a big deal.

That’s an accomplishment.

This talk is a response to the people who questioned “why” she did these things.

It’s a response to all the questions about what “bad thing” she was running from….the question about what happened to make her run away like that.

Her answer, even though it might not sell books like overcoming a heroin addiction and depressed promiscuity by taking a really long hike (ala Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild”), was that she wasn’t running from anything, she just liked to explore and discover….she just liked to run.

Sometimes running is enough.

And….discovery is necessary and …..enough.

She says, “and discovery matters because it makes us children again….”

I’m starting a new postal route in about a week.

It’s a lot bigger than my route….in town…..a lot of twists and turns…..businesses to deliver to.

It’s imposing.

It’s imposing to launch myself into it with minimal training.

But….it’s an adventure, too. It will be a discovery.

And….I’m running again, building up slowly, enjoying it, realizing that my body can still take it if I take it easy at first.

I can look at all of this as a terrifying proposition, the new route and all, or I can see it for the positive adventure I know that it’s going to be.

Adventure is a good thing.

I don’t think that I’m running from anything, either.