I was sitting on my back porch relaxing a few days ago as the sun went down. It was a beautiful cool evening, and the sky was a clear light blue. I noticed an airplane thousands of feet in the air slowly headed south. Although the plane was traveling hundreds of miles per hour, it seemed like a slow crawl from where I sat. The setting sun reflected off of the plane and made it shine like a shooting star. It was pretty. I could not help but wonder about all of the people onboard that flight.

Where were they going? Where had they been? Were they headed to Paris, Italy? Maybe they were returning from Alaska or Hawaii? Possibly they were flying to see family for the first time in a long time, or headed to a business conference in Vegas or Orlando? I wondered if there were kids on board, and if they had their faces smashed against their window looking down at my little town.

Wherever they were headed to, or coming from, I hoped it was somewhere new and exciting for them. I was envious of those passengers on that plane, I wished I had a ticket.

It dawned on me at that moment that life resembles that airplane soaring high in the sky. It appears to barely be moving, but in reality, it is flying by at a furious pace.

Anything new is exciting. It could be a relationship, a car, a house, a city, even a new pet. It’s exciting because you are not completely certain of what lies ahead.

I recently started a new job, and it’s exciting. I am meeting new people, developing new friendships, seeing new places, and learning new skills. None of that would have happened if I hadn’t tried something different. It’s all new to me, and that is a good thing. I don’t think I want to experience the “same old same old” for the rest of my life, do you?

I have a good friend who is retired from education. He recently took a part – time job working at a hardware store which is owned by a family member. He doesn’t need the money, he does it because it adds a freshness and newness to his life. He meets new people, makes new friends, and hears new stories.

Keeping life new and exciting does not take a lot of work, one just has to be willing to step out of one’s comfort zone. The biggest drawback in doing so is that stepping out of a comfort zone can be uncomfortable.

Motivational speaker Tony Robbins said that we all should be planning a celebratory future, and the only way to do that is by adding new experiences to our life.

I ask myself what exactly is it I want to be celebrating when I turn sixty-five? Only that I lived that long, or that I tried new things, and found excitement in life by doing so.

My dad told me one time that excuses will always be there for you, but opportunity won’t.

I wish I had the attentiveness to approach each new day like a passenger on a plane headed to some mysterious land. Beaming with excitement and marvel about the unknown adventures that lie ahead.

I think that is how God would prefer we approach each sunrise He gives us.

I’d better work on that.

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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to [email protected].