Buy the Tickets. Go on the Adventure.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about time and how quickly life can change.

Over the past few months, I’ve lost several people I knew, including my longtime friend and podcast partner Todd Wheeler. When people around your age start passing away, it changes the way you look at things. I’ve started thinking of every day as a bonus day. That doesn’t mean every day has to be some huge adventure, but it does mean I don’t want to waste too many of them waiting for the perfect time to do something.

A recent trip to an Oklahoma State football game reminded me of that.

Months earlier, Todd and I had talked about going to the Oklahoma State-Oregon game in Stillwater. One of our podcast listeners is an Oregon fan, and we had kicked around the idea of making a whole weekend out of it with some football, a little Route 66 and whatever else we could squeeze in. We never got everything finalized, and then Todd passed away.

For a while I figured the whole idea was over, but eventually I started thinking about something I tell other people all the time: buy the tickets and go do the thing. If I’m going to tell everybody else that, I probably ought to follow my own advice.

So I bought two tickets.

As game day got closer, there were plenty of reasons not to go. Oklahoma State had already lost. Oregon was heavily favored. OU was playing Michigan on television at the same time. My wife Denise decided she’d rather stay home, and nobody else I asked was available. I had every excuse I needed to stay home, but instead I drove to Stillwater by myself.

It turned into exactly the kind of mini adventure I’m talking about.

It was hot, then it rained. I parked about eight blocks from the stadium because I didn’t want to pay for parking. I walked through the tailgating areas, stopped by Eskimo Joe’s and ran into a few people I knew. Then I entered the stadium early only to discover the game was delayed because of lightning.

And then it was delayed again.

There I was, stuck inside the stadium for a couple of hours before kickoff, unable to leave and come back in with the same ticket, missing the OU game and wondering why I had thought any of this was a good idea. Eventually, though, the game started, and something unexpected happened.

Oklahoma State looked good. Really good.

I had originally planned to watch the first quarter and head home. Then I decided to stay until halftime. At halftime, OSU was still ahead, so I stayed longer. By the fourth quarter, Oregon had taken a one-point lead, and now I was hot, sweaty and thinking about the drive back to Enid and a birthday dinner I needed to make.

I finally decided to leave a little early.

Naturally, Oklahoma State came back and won.

The fans rushed the field, the goalpost came down and I ended up watching the final couple of minutes through FaceTime while driving home. For a few minutes I regretted leaving, but looking back, I’m just glad I went.

That whole day reminded me of the old saying, “That’s why they play the game.” On paper, Oklahoma State wasn’t supposed to win, but things don’t always turn out the way they’re supposed to. Life works the same way. You don’t really know how something is going to turn out until you actually show up and give it a chance.

Maybe you’ve been thinking about taking a trip. Maybe there’s a concert you want to see and nobody wants to go with you. Maybe there’s a contest you’d like to enter, a job you want to apply for, a project you want to start or some crazy idea that’s been floating around in your head.

Do it.

I’ve won things simply because I entered. I’ve gotten phone calls and interviews simply because I applied. I’ve been an extra in movies because I put my name out there. None of those things would have happened if I had just sat around thinking about them.

You can’t win the contest you never enter.

I’m getting close to 64, and I don’t look at that as a reason to start shutting things down. I’m thinking about new podcasts. I want to paint. I want to finish my book. I want to create more designs. I’m working out and trying to stay in better shape. I still want to learn things, make things, travel places and have adventures.

There’s no rule that says all of your best stories have already happened.

We live in a time when you can start a podcast from a spare bedroom, write a book on a laptop, create art at the kitchen table or launch a business with equipment you already own. You don’t need a giant staff or a million dollars. You need an idea, some effort and the willingness to start before everything is perfectly lined up.

None of us knows exactly how much time we have, and that’s really the point. Buy the tickets, enter the contest, take the trip, start the project and go on the little adventure.

Sometimes the thing you almost talked yourself out of doing becomes one of the stories you’re really glad you got to tell.

PODCAST

Listen to “Play the Game, Buy the Ticket, Go on the Adventure” on Spreaker.

VIDEO