Motors and Cycles
I'm signed up for a motorcycle safety class in a few weeks. And I have a six-year old waiting for me when I get back. So at this point I have no idea if I'm going to end up getting a bike or not.
It comes down to one question, which can be asked multiple ways. On the one hand, biking is dangerous, and I don't want to risk not being there for my family. On the other hand, do I really want my daughter to learn the lesson that we should be afraid to try new things, and that risk aversion is better than passion?
It's the nature of risk, and of statitics. Forty years from now, if I've been riding safely and I decide it's time to hang up the leathers, I'll probalby be very glad I rode. On the other hand, a serious injury would leave me regretting that I ever got on a bike in the first place. Where I sit today, there is no way of knowing which is more likely.
Unfortunately, I approach a lot of life this way. Either I'm too afraid to join in, or I join in and enjoy something, but worry in the off-time that I'm in over my head. Living in fear is very tiring, and I'm tired of being afraid. For me, life is the bright spots when I'm not worrying about never having another bright spot. And that's not a very healthy, happy, or productive way to live life. The good part is that I know that, and I'm working on it. But I have a ways to go.
I think, frankly, an even bigger fear of having an accident while doing something exciting that makes me happy is having a stupid accident while I'm avoiding doing dangerous things. Yes, I'm even afraid of not doing dangerous things. And there is no way to win in that paradigm at all, so it's got to change.
It comes down to one question, which can be asked multiple ways. On the one hand, biking is dangerous, and I don't want to risk not being there for my family. On the other hand, do I really want my daughter to learn the lesson that we should be afraid to try new things, and that risk aversion is better than passion?
It's the nature of risk, and of statitics. Forty years from now, if I've been riding safely and I decide it's time to hang up the leathers, I'll probalby be very glad I rode. On the other hand, a serious injury would leave me regretting that I ever got on a bike in the first place. Where I sit today, there is no way of knowing which is more likely.
Unfortunately, I approach a lot of life this way. Either I'm too afraid to join in, or I join in and enjoy something, but worry in the off-time that I'm in over my head. Living in fear is very tiring, and I'm tired of being afraid. For me, life is the bright spots when I'm not worrying about never having another bright spot. And that's not a very healthy, happy, or productive way to live life. The good part is that I know that, and I'm working on it. But I have a ways to go.
I think, frankly, an even bigger fear of having an accident while doing something exciting that makes me happy is having a stupid accident while I'm avoiding doing dangerous things. Yes, I'm even afraid of not doing dangerous things. And there is no way to win in that paradigm at all, so it's got to change.