Before we close out the 65 adventures of 2025, I have a few thoughts that I would like to share.
If you have read this far, thank you from the bottom of my heart. When I write these words, I am never sure if even a single person is reading them, but every once in a while someone says something to me that indicates they have been paying attention. That means the world to me, and is incredibly encouraging.
We just hosted a wonderful New Year’s Eve party, inviting those who participated in an adventure to honor both the new year and the completion of my challenge. It was joyful to see more than 50 people come together to celebrate with us.
As I said at that celebration, the start of this journey had humble beginnings. I have worked my entire life. My day to day conversations were largely with my co-workers. In retirement, these were missing, and I was hoping that challenging myself to do new things would become a catalyst to more social interaction and a successful and meaningful next phase of my life.
At times I was over my head
I am proud to complete all sixty five adventures. It feels like an incredible accomplishment. I’ve said before that the math is scary. 65 adventures in 52 weeks. That is one every week, plus one extra every month, plus one more, just to be annoying. That meant doing one or more new activity each week and planning several others all at the same time. Constantly. When I took a moment to stop and breathe, I fell behind. Occasionally, it felt exhausting.
However, most of the time, it felt invigorating. Each adventure created momentum for the next one. “Objects in motion tend to stay in motion” is a tenant of Isaac Newton’s first law of motion. It apparently applies to people as well. There are clearly more physics metaphors here as well, because the energy of these 65 Adventures has somehow ricocheted off of my friends and motivated them to take action as well. I am aware of some spin-offs including Craig arranging a long-overdue college reunion in Boston, and Doug falling in love once more with his glider airplane when he thought all was lost. I am certain there are more. Several people have shared that they were inspired by me and that makes me extremely happy.
A few things I learned
I am a very creative person, and the adventures became a great outlet for creative expression. This frequently began in the planning phase, as possibilities of time, activity, location and people came together. The event itself was often also a great outlet, both to see what would actually happen and adapt to anything unexpected (for example, the weather). Lastly, writing up these blogs has been a joy in itself, being able to color the activities in terms that would be fun to read and hopefully convey some meaning. I learned that whatever I do next will benefit from having these components.
During the year I came across an article that explained as people retire, it is typical for their circle of friends to shrink. Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) indicates that as we age we prioritize deeper emotional relationships over exploration, therefore reducing our number of acquaintances and focusing primarily on a small group of deeper friendships. I have retired earlier than most of my friends, so exploration is still required, even though I also cherish my close relationships. In total, there were 314 unique individuals who participated in an adventure with me this year. Through this process, I have been able to discover people with common interests to foster greater connection with in the future.
I learned that if you want to have an exciting life, without a lot of routine, you do need to plan ahead. But planning is just one component: staying loose and flexible is equally important. Saying “yes” to those last minute opportunities keeps life fun.
A harder lesson for me to digest was to lower my expectations in planning events, and to enjoy the outcome, whatever it may be. This is especially true when trying to gather groups of people. It was enormously meaningful to get together small groups of friends from NYU and NBC even though I had hoped and planned for larger groups.
On New Year’s Eve, we were discussing how time seems to accelerate as we get older. Mimi mentioned to me that a potential solution is to try new things. I believe she is right. Even though this year packed more events in, it seemed to go by just a tad slower.
Okay, what now?
I am pleased that the adventures were completed. I feel almost like I have gone through a time portal and now have permission to relax a little. There’s no doubt that there is more excitement in my future, but having a moment or two to take a break feels like an immense luxury.
I’d like to conclude this by once again thanking Sherry, who accompanied me on 75% of the adventures while supporting me in all the others (she deserves a rest too). Sincere appreciation for Ali & Cam, who encouraged me and kept me honest, and all the friends and family who made this past year (and who will make future years) so special. I am eternally in your debt.
– Larry