There’s a moment when the world feels bigger than your life.
When your breath catches — not from stress, but from wonder.
When time slows.
When you’re reminded that there is more to living than keeping everything running.
It doesn’t happen in meetings or inboxes or packed calendars.
It happens when you step just far enough outside the familiar to feel awe again.
That pull you’ve been feeling — the restlessness, the quiet longing, the sense that something is missing even though nothing is “wrong” — isn’t a sign you’re ungrateful or burned out.
It’s your soul asking for adventure.
Not escape.
Not chaos.
But the kind of experience that expands your perspective and reminds you what it feels like to be fully alive.
For me, one of those moments happened recently in Egypt — standing beside my sister, cruising slowly down the Nile, watching history unfold on both sides of the river.
There was no rushing. No checking the time. Just the steady movement of the water and the quiet awareness that I was traveling through thousands of years of human story.
And then, before sunrise one morning, I stepped into a hot air balloon and lifted silently into the sky over the Valley of the Kings.
Below us: temples, tombs, and land that has held meaning for millennia.
Around us: stillness, light, and a perspective you can’t get from the ground.
It was a true bucket-list moment — one I didn’t even realize I needed as much as I did.
That experience reminded me of something we so easily forget: awe changes us.
It expands our perspective.
It quiets the noise.
It returns us to our sense of wonder — the part of us that remembers life is meant to be felt, not just managed.
And the truth is, we all need more moments like this.
Not necessarily Egypt.
Not necessarily a hot air balloon.
But experiences that stretch us beyond the familiar.
That interrupt routine.
That remind us how big and beautiful the world — and our lives — really are.
The question isn’t whether we need awe and wonder. It’s whether we’re willing to make room for them.
Why Adventure Isn’t Frivolous — It’s Formative
We tend to treat adventure as optional. Extra. Something we’ll get to later.
After the kids are older.
After the next promotion.
After the calendar clears.
But research tells a different story.
Studies in positive psychology show that novel, immersive experiences — especially travel and awe-inducing moments — significantly increase life satisfaction, creativity, and emotional resilience. Experiences that stretch us beyond routine activate the brain’s reward and learning centers, helping us feel more alive, present, and connected to meaning.
- Experiences create longer-lasting happiness than material achievements.
- Exposure to awe (like vast landscapes or ancient places) reduces stress and increases perspective.
- Novelty helps break chronic stress cycles — something high-achievers are especially prone to.
In other words: adventure isn’t indulgent. It’s regulating. It’s grounding. It’s clarifying.
What Egypt Gave Me (That I Didn’t Know I Was Missing)
Cruising the Nile wasn’t rushed. It forced a slower rhythm.
History wasn’t something you skimmed — it surrounded you.
And floating over the Valley of the Kings at sunrise?
There was no phone.
No agenda.
No performing.
Just stillness, perspective, and the quiet realization that life is so much bigger than our to-do lists.
It reminded me of something I see again and again in the women I coach:
So many of us are incredibly capable…but quietly starved for wonder.
We don’t need to abandon our ambition.
We need to expand our lives enough to hold it.
Adventure does that. It restores scale. It returns us to ourselves.
Action Step:
How to Invite More Adventure
1. Seek awe on purpose.
Ask yourself: When was the last time I felt small in a good way?
Nature, art, history, silence — awe recalibrates your nervous system and perspective.
2. Break one routine this month.
Take a different route. Plan a solo day. Say yes to something unfamiliar.
Novelty wakes up parts of you that routine slowly numbs.
3. Stop postponing what matters.
Not everything meaningful can wait for “someday.”
Ask: What am I delaying that my soul is already asking for?
Adventure isn’t about escape. It’s about remembering what makes you feel fully alive.
How I Can Help
If this stirred something — if you feel that quiet pull toward more life, more presence, more alignment — here are a few ways we can go deeper:
- Purchase my International Bestselling Book that goes through the framework that has helped 1,000+ coaching and executive clients. You can find more information HERE.
- Join the Powerhouse Women Network! Find more information HERE.
- Build a custom strategy to reach your goals without burning out or compromising your purpose. Find out more information on this FREE complimentary call.
Your turn to reflect a step further:
When was the last time you felt genuinely alive — not productive, not needed, not “on” — but alive?
And what might it look like to invite a little more of that into this season of your life?
You’re allowed to want a life that expands you!
– Christi Cossette
