The Fine Line Between Adventure And Danger

Those that know me personally might find this a strange topic for me to be writing about. After all, I have parasailed, boated extensively, played lots of contact sports, enjoyed the occasional party, hot-air ballooned, ridden in a bi-plane, ridden on private aircraft, gone on gliders, etc. However, I consider all of those things to be adventures as opposed to dangers!

An adventure is something which raises your adrenaline level, and may have some degree of risk. It is, however, an adventure, if it is supervised by experienced professionals. An adventure becomes a danger when the risk far outweighs the rewards.

Many individuals in today's society push the limits, with seemingly reckless abandon. They take extreme risks, often appearing to be either reckless or having a belief that they have some sort of immortality. Many set no limits nor restrictions upon their actions, which often leads to poor judgments. How many times have we heard about some tragic accident caused because of someone driving while intoxicated? How many times have we heard about deaths caused by "accidental overdoses."? With so many potentially dangerous drugs (if used recklessly) in so many medicine chests, the potential for tragedy often becomes a sad reality. With so many drugs out there, both prescription and "street," we know far too little about the possible interactions. How many times have we seen someone "drink to excess," and either get "stinkin' drunk," or, in more extreme cases, get alcohol toxicity, and incur dire results?

There is so much to experience from life, that one can get "high on life" without abusing drugs or alcohol. Yet, for any number of reasons, we often see excesses that create dire risks instead of great adventures.

We all can use some adventure in our lives. Most of us could use more adventures. In our pressure- packed society, in these challenging economic and political times, it should not be surprising that so many try to "escape." However, one can and should escape to an adventure and have fun, and not need unwarranted risk and danger to enjoy oneself. We should be our own best friend, but all too often, end up being our own worst enemy.