I am not a thrill-seeker. I never have been. Ever.
Sure. There are a few times in my life, when I may have done some “edgy” things. But mostly, I was born a chicken. Clucking all the way. Perhaps that is why I like eggs as much as I do. Nonetheless.
I can remember when I was pretty young… probably 8 or 9, our family went to Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky. We didn’t take vacations often. But we always seemed to stay in those lodges where breakfasts were included, I think. And. Maybe THAT is why I like eggs as much as I do. Regardless.
The park was completely amazing, and as the name suggests, it was full of natural bridges. They were high-in-the-sky bridges. Unfortunately, I was terribly afraid of heights. So when we crossed those bridges, I had to crawl across on my belly.
So as you can see, thrill-seeking has never been my deal.
Just a couple of weeks ago, a guy named Ueli Steck, died in a thrill-seek. He was the famed Swiss mountain climber. On April 30th. He plunged to his death… some 3,280 feet near Mount Everest.
He was a professional climber and he gave the world’s highest peak another shot, plotting out a route in Nepal that had been completed only once before. When asked about his upcoming climb? “Failure for me,” he said, “would be to die and not come home.” I’d say it was an epic fail. Oh. The air up there.
Some people need that adrenaline rush. But not me. I won’t be climbing Everest any time soon. Or Skydiving. They say the sport of skydiving is pretty safe, all in all. Last year, there were just 21 deaths recorded. Even still, I don’t think I want to take a shot at adding to those statistics.
The thing about skydiving…. we spent SO long trying to successfully get planes to stay up in the air. Those Wright Brothers sure were on it. So when we finally DO get the planes up in the sky…. people start making a point to jump out of them.
Sort of like spending 7 months knitting a sweater and then ripping it all out.
The most thrill-seeking I do these days is drinking cranberry juice right out of the bottle from the refrigerator.
Truth be told, I’ve definitely done some dumb things in my life, and I am very fortunate to have come out on the other side of it, pretty much unscathed. Sometimes, it feels like someone, or something, was watching out for me.
Maybe that is true.
Most of my life though, it seems, I’ve crawled across things on my belly. Close to the ground, inch by inch. Trying to keep my feet planted an all. I don’t think this is a bad thing. In fact, for the most part, this has served me well.
There is a quote somewhere, about keeping your feet on the ground and your head in the clouds. Could be Theodore Roosevelt. Anyway. I believe it to be true. It may be the sensible, right thing to do….. keeping your foundation firmly planted. But every once in a while… we may just need to do a little tap dance way up high on the tight rope. And see the air up there.
But I’m still not climbing Everest. Or skydiving.
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”Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure” – Bob Bitchin
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“Adventure isn’t hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles in life.” – John Amatt
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