Risk Factor

I just watched a great film. It was quirky but fun, just like I like. It was called "The Darwin Awards," starring a whole host of people.

Thing about this movie is that it reminded me of something I believe in very strongly--I believe that people need risk. Men especially. It's like a vitamin. Now their are false adventures, but mainly its about backing down or not seeking out adventures. Life is fraught with risks of all natures. You can't actually eliminate all of it, but you can live your entire life attempting to mitigate it. If you do that, you more than miss out on life, you begin to walk a path that will take you really negative places.

Certain things in life are like that, like vitamins. Relationship is another one. If you get close to people you risk getting hurt but if you don't...You have to get a certain amount of relationship to grow as a human being--be a well rounded person. In that same way you need risk. Risk is good for you when channeled well. Nearly every aboriginal culture has a rite of passage that involves some level of risk, often life threatening risk.

The transition from boy to man is brought on by dealing with risk. In our very young US culture we hardly have any rights of passage, many of the ones we do have involve risk like getting a drivers licence (you could crash and die). Many others like being able to smoke or strip dance, may not be so positive. Interestingly, they still involve risk, but of something that is likely to take you out down the road, after a lifetime of reduced capacity. Positive risks aren't easy to define but they don't look like that.

There are 3 levels of adventure. Level 1 adventures are casual. Level one's are like rafting, or a weekend survival camping trip. Level 2 are personal, like getting engaged. Level 3 are the major risks in life, life responding to a mugger or leaving your job to join the mission field. You can't always control when you're going to get a level 2 or 3 risk opportunity, but the only way to prepare to handle them is to accept that they are going to happen and work you way up to it. It's also important to get in a few casual adventures where you can to keep in practice. If you don't, your need for adventure and risk will push you into doing counterfeit adventures like drinking away your paycheck or having an affair.

For more on risk and adventure I recommend the entire line up of books by John Eldgredge found here. To read a fun-filled adventure I can recommend Suffering Rancor by Andy Bunch. (See what I did there? ;)