Life is an exciting adventure, or it is nothing. Helen Keller
Son and Grandson joyfully romping in the surf
Yes, I am posing the question and asking each of you to examine how you take risks in your life. How often do you take a risk? Have you ever taken a daring or even foolish risk? If so have they been beneficial? Are you dare devilish, taking risks that can be down right dangerous and saying to yourself, "damn the torpedoes full speed ahead", or are you on the cautious but brave side? Are you the one who will take risks to improve the lives of others, in other words a dare angel? I've been reading about these angels, the ones that work for Doctors without Borders and other aid organizations in war zones, impoverished countries, facing down horrifying conditions and risking their own lives. And then there are the quieter variety of dare angels who care for the dying in Hospice or volunteer in children's hospitals bringing cheer to the frightened and sick kids. Angels all indeed.
Another good question is: for what cause would you be willing to risk your life? Quite simply I know I would die for anyone in my family. As for the broader subject of for what cause would you be willing to risk your life, years ago I put my life on the line for a couple of my clients. I am not sure it was one of my smarter manoeuvres, however this was over 25 years ago. The circumstances were these-- one time I interfered with a violent, abusive husband about to pounce on his wife and another time a drunk, out of control boyfriend was about to pounce on me for seeing his girlfriend in counseling. For a little dude I can be pretty fierce.
All of this risk taking started when I was a little girl. I was a 'Tom boy' and a dare devil. If my mom were still alive she'd confirm that. I'd say, "Mom tell them." She'd answer, "Oh, you were a dare devil when you were a little girl. I remember you used to ride down our hill doing an arabesque on your bicycle seat while holding on to the handle bars." I'd say modestly, "Yes, I remember feeling exhilarated doing that." She'd then say, "Thank God I never saw it, I was too busy with the little ones but I certainly heard about it from the frightened neighbors." Seems I never considered the loss of life or limb.
I soon got my comeuppance in my devilish adventures. At seven I was attempting to balance my way across the top of a very tall swing set at a Community park when I fell. [Seriously, how the hell did I get up there, shimmying?] The park staff called my Mom and she took me to the emergency room where they X-rayed my arm. "All's OK" they said and Mom brought me home. "I knew you weren't OK because the entire next day you wouldn't let go of your arm." She brought me back to the emergency room again and, sure enough, she was right. I had a difficult to diagnose "green stick" fracture. I had to wear a cast for six weeks and that did slow my dare devil ways, but not completely. I slowly worked my way back up to being a dare devil. This is in kid years, so maybe it was all of six months and then I was riding my bike everywhere and straight down the same hill again. Maybe I have too much testosterone, I don't know.
It didn't stop there, in our neighborhood we'd play Red Rover with the big boys [Wally and Sandy, a couple of years older than us]. Doesn't sound too scary, does it? Then take into account that they added BB guns to the game. I didn't dodge in time and got a BB in my thigh. It should have stopped me, but it didn't stop me from playing. Where were the adults? We didn't know and didn't care.
We were afforded huge degrees of freedom in the late 40's, early 50's. The rule was to be home for dinner and don't go over to the canal. Period. We went all over Evanston on our bikes and down to the sewage canal every day though that was supposedly forbidden. I vividly remember being by myself age 10 or so, up high in an apple tree overlooking that canal and thinking how great the whole moment was: the day, the tree and eating an apple. The apple, ever so much juicier and more sensual than Proust's dry Madeline.
As for me, I'm more or less sure that my dare devil days are over. I'm working on the angel side of the spectrum, more volunteering and writing checks for all of the daring angels all over the globe who are taking the best risk of all: loving actions despite the consequences.
susansmagicfeather copyright 2011 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved
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