Choose Your Own Adventure

Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. Choose Your Own Adventure was one of the most popular children's series during the 1980s and 1990s, selling over 250 million copies between 1979 and 1998.

I remember reading these books as a child. At certain points in the book, the reader is faced with a decision. Choice A will take you to one page and Choice B will take you to another. The story will end a different way depending on the decisions the reader has made along the way. Sometimes, I would cheat and look at both options, selecting the one that was most appealing. Wouldn’t it be nice if life worked in this fashion?

Lately, I’ve been finding myself saying “what if” about many situations that have unfolded over the past several months. What if...she had refused to leave...that woman never turned...it hadn’t rained that weekend...I called instead of sent that text...and the list goes on and on. I do this, knowing that it is completely futile. So, what is the point? Why am I wasting my time? Because it has taught me something.

Each decision we make takes us on a different trajectory. I think this holds true for most things in life, but I also think that sometimes, no matter what decision you make, you are eventually going to find yourself at the same end. It might have just taken you four or five extra steps along the way.

unplugged

Last fall I sold just about everything I owned at the town yard sale. Whatever remained was donated to Goodwill, along with several bags of clothes. My rule for discarding clothes went as follows...if I haven’t worn it in the past year, it goes.

Now, I feel confident in saying that everything that I own (with the exception of my dresser and bed) could fit into my car. While that wasn’t necessarily my goal, the act of downsizing was a liberating experience.

I aim to live a simple life. One component of this involves “unplugging” myself from technology whenever/as much as possible. My cell phone is from 2005 and it doesn’t have apps, internet, email or GPS, but I can call you and at the end of the month, my bill is only $55. I lived most of my adult life without cable television. In fact, I couldn’t tell you the last time I turned it on. I don’t use GPS in my car. If I’m going some place new, I write down the directions. And, I challenge myself to take a digital sabbatical (http://rowdykittens.com/2010/07/digital-sabbatical/) at least once a week.

On Friday afternoon I went to get my oil changed. There were four other customers in the waiting area with me. One lady was texting, one guy was talking on his phone, the other two men were using the internet on their phones...and then there was me, taking it all in.

I thought about what this scenario would be like prior to the invention of these devices. Would we all just sit around and stare at each other? Would we (gasp) actually have a conversation with each other? Would we have brought our own reading materials and proceeded to ignore each other as we do when we’re using our phones?

It’s just something to think about. People seem to be so connected to technology. If there is a free second, it’s consumed by that device in the palm of your hand. Connected to the internet...connected to email...connected to text...connected to the person on the other end of the line...disconnected from all that is around them at the present moment.

Personally, I view these experiences as opportunities to connect with the world around me. Maybe that is the reason why I am writing about the things I noticed while I sat alone, waiting for my oil to be changed and they just kept their heads down.