What is “Toofani” or real adventure?

When I was in Bangalore, my meditation teacher consciously taught me the concept of “having an adventure.” Adventure doesn’t always consist of excitement or thrill. Typically it involves lots of uncertainty, discomfort and moving out of your comfort zone. It typically involves getting lost. But, when you are back home, for years afterwards, adventures constitute the stories you will will love to tell.

I love adventure. I like to drive off, explore, even if there is a danger of getting lost. “I’ll get back, eventually” I say to people. My parents hate it. They want everything to be well-planned. They always insist on knowing exactly where I am.

I remember when I took few of my friends backpacking. Two days in, we found the stream was flooded; we could’t cross to follow the trail. Then it began to rain. My friend and I hiked up the stream, hoping to find a place where it broke into two segments, each one crossable. We found a huge tree had fallen, and we could (we thought) get across that — but it was slippery due to rain…

That was an adventure. At the time it seemed miserable, but it is the story we tell.

I always tell people around me that they should not avoid discomfort. Discomfort is one of the signs of an adventure. Perhaps you have a new job, and you are not sure you know what you are doing. You are confused (lost) and uncomfortable. You may be in the beginning of an adventure.

Next day of my graduation, I said to my friend Supriya: let’s go out and have an adventure. We drove east of Los Angeles and irrespective of a destination, oblivious to the fact that we might get lost, or that we’d might encounter various other problems. Gosh, I shall tell you what a trip it was …

All of us get complacent. All of us! I mean, it’s a human condition. You just have to fight it. Maybe, you have to put yourself in position where you are at risk, where you have to step up your game. And you will have amazing catastrophies, falls and triumphs. Ultimately, all these will make your life richer, richer and richer. Have faith in yourself!

One thing good about my generation is that we don’t think much before breaking the status quo. Instead we go a step ahead and explore the unchartered territory.

I’ve learned in my own life to recognize the feeling. I have started looking at some new aspect of life. I don’t understand it all, but there seems to be something that doesn’t smell right. Am I wasting my time? I feel lost. I am groping my way. Maybe I should move back to my comfort zone. NO! This has the sense of an adventure! It may lead nowhere, but it might be the start of one of those incredible journeys that I’ll always cherish.

In fact, when I look back on my most interesting events in life, they all started in this way.

Oh boy trust me on this: Each adventure will change you from within. Adventures are a testament. It’s a way to see who you really are. You get to truly understand yourself when you throw yourself in a foreign environment. You get to explore new possibilities.

Try to develop a sense of adventure. Don’t make every day an adventure; that could be exhausting. But make sure you do have that regular adventure or Toofani experience.

I think adventures should humble you. You should really be in awe of it. You learn something during each adventure. It’s a gift, when you are humble and constantly learning.

Some parts of this essays are derived from a quora answer by Richard Muller