It seems like no matter what you do, there's always someone standing by the sidelines ready to warn you of the dangers of whatever it is you're about to attempt. Yet most of us have already traversed a birth canal at the onset of existence, which from what I hear is the most dangerous and deadly activity of all. Congratulations on being born in a universe which will have consequences for every misstep, ranging from minor to catastrophic! From now on, you'll be traversing a landscape where even the most supposedly benign activity can become a fatal one. Each year over 235,000 people end up in the hospital due to injures from slipping in the shower. Thousands die a year from choking on food. You have about a 1 in 77 chance of dying in a car crash. And let's not even talk about natural disasters, diseases, spousal murder, and other random things like racial genocide and political assassinations.
What I'm trying to say is, you think you're playing it safe, but jokes on you! - this is a game with full immersion without saves, replays, or multiple lives and the only way to not participate is to have never been born.
Yes, statistically riding a motorcycle is more dangerous than riding a bumper-kart, and we all know if you chug a bottle of peppermint schnapps in one go you might end up in the hospital, but personal experience has a way of defying statistical averages, and most of us at some point in our lives will end up somewhere other than squarely in the middle of a bell curve. Despite that, you will be constantly surrounded by people who think they "know best", who will tell you to play it safe, not take risks, invest all your money, don't ever spend a dime you don't have to, live like a monk on peanut butter and rice, only go to dinner parties with white people, don't camp where there might be bugs, always keep your cell-phone charged.
Don't drop out of college, don't take that job across the country, don't move in with that person, don't take a vacation to South America, don't pursue your dreams without a "backup" (What are we backing up, exactly?), never choose a person that you love over a personal opportunity, don't take drugs, don't talk to strangers, don't explore, don't dream, don't stay up after 3 A.M, don't close your eyes, stay alone, don't stare into a dark mirror and say "Bloody Mary" 3 times.
And all for what? Life is a game that you can't really win, that has no real rewards for the quest objectives you decide to pursue except for the experiential moment. The only real certainty is uncertainty, that you can take opportunities with nothing but a gut-feeling and sometimes you're right, and sometimes you're wrong, but all of us are really going off of incomplete information. Some people will see failure as an "I-told-you-so," an opportunity to avoid pain by never trying, like their pessimism makes them some kind of an oracle.
Another scam, another lie - you can't avoid pain at all, no matter what you push away, you can either get it in great big bursts or in constant, little trickles eked out over a lifetime of repression, paint-by-numbers choices, and trying to convince yourself that you don't want anything more.
To those people on the sidelines - surprise! - there are no sidelines. You're in the middle of the goddamn street, the danger zone, and you've been here the entire time.
So if there's something you've been wanting to do and you've been too scared to do it or feel like it'd be self indulgent, impractical, or silly - do it now! Do your research, sure, you can prepare for the best success - but do it! Do it before you slip in the shower or choke on a pretzel and inbetween spots of bursting black dizziness and pain have to experience ANOTHER regret.
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Stock photo from pixabay
Self portrait by me canon t51
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