Risky business

I’m sitting in the middle of the woods on perhaps the coldest day of the year and I am not exactly sure why. When we left the house earlier the electric thermometer display outside registered a chilly nine degrees, and although there was little wind, it felt much colder.\nEarlier in the month, some friends and I decided for some reason – one that escapes me at the moment – that we were going to do an 18-hour adventure race called “Mission” in southern Indiana. The race is a mixture of backpacking, mountain biking, orienteering, climbing and paddling.\nSo here we are in the middle of the forest, snow all around us and little noise to be heard except the constant whistle of the wind as it blows through the trees. The race is months away, at the beginning of May, but we are here to start training for it, both physically and mentally. One of our friends, the one with actual experience with backpacking and orienteering, informed us at this point in the excursion that we were pretty stupid to wear jeans and that our choice in winter clothes was horrible. \n“You guys should really have worn layered synthetics” he informs us, with a slight maniacal laugh. \nGreat.\nWhile it was a bit cold to begin with, once we started seriously moving we became a bit warmer, and my disgust with the natural world and its wind chill waned and I was able to enjoy the wonderful nature that surrounded us. But this weekend was just a small taste of things to come and this is both scary and exciting. If we are to finish the race in May, we will need to be able to keep moving for 18 hours, something I am not sure I can say I have ever done. \nThe question as to why we decided to do the race came up. I asked one of my friends, “Why exactly are we doing this?” He looked off into space, a bit stunned, because I suspect even he did not know the answer. He finally said excitedly:\n“‘Cause it hurts!”\nAnd that’s exactly it. \nWe all have to take somewhat unwise risks to feel alive, even if these risks don’t make much sense in the beginning. Taking risks is not only a physical challenge – the scariest are often mental. From taking a class that you know will most likely be too hard, to asking someone out you suspect is way out of your league, all of these experiences are risky but we do them anyway, even if only to scare ourselves. \nAnd perhaps that is why we are doing the race; not because it will actually benefit us in any way, but instead because we know very likely we cannot do it. It is this knowledge, the knowledge of almost certain failure that makes it scary and makes the risk all the more important. So while you’re out doing your normal routine, ask yourself if you’ve done something risky or scary this week. If you haven’t, make sure you do. Just remember to dress appropriately.