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love and adventure | happyliving.com - image via deathtothestockphoto.com

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have
 truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
(Henry Drummond)

Love and adventure – both can feel dangerous and daring, or sweetly exciting. Love can be new and unfamiliar. Adventure can get our blood flowing and show us the world from a new perspective. There are many parallels between the two.

Last week we shared the foundations of health and discussed the four fitnesses. This week we are focusing on the next two foundations: love and adventure.

foundations of health - the four fitnesses, love and adventure, significance | happyliving.com

Love is essential to a healthy life. It breathes peace into quiet moments. It helps us persevere through tough times. It gives meaning to relationships. It’s what pushes us to pursue our passions. Practicing self-love is just as fundamental to happy living as loving others. Without it, we cannot offer our best to those around us or to the work we do. Love provides us with purpose, happiness, and joy.

Adventure is often considered a “young person’s pursuit” and it can be easy to forget as we grow older. Some take adventure too far with reckless and dangerous feats, but adventure is not all about being extreme. We believe that a safe and moderate practice of adventure – over the duration of a lifetime – leads to happiness.

When is the last time you did something daring? It can be small, like leaping across a tiny stream of running water. It can be huge, like kayaking down a rushing river. Expanding your horizons with a bit of adventure will help you stay feeling young, happy, and healthy.

As you go about your day, think of ways you can live with love and adventure. Are there small things you can do to practice these foundations of health? Can you make a grand gesture of love… or go on an epic adventure? When you start to think of these as elements of healthy living, it becomes a bit easier to incorporate them in your routines.

How do you practice love and adventure? Leave us a comment below, and check back for our post on the final foundation of health: the pursuit of significance.

First image via Death to the Stock Photo