Fearless

I didn't start driving until I was in my 30s.  I have serious vision issues so learning when I was younger was virtually impossible.    I learned to drive as an adult -- with all the anxiety that an adult might have because I knew the responsibility of driving a thousand pound vehicle through the streets where other drivers may not be paying attention or a careless child might run off the sidewalk into the road.   So I drove scared, nervous, jumpy and  ovecompensating.    I sometimes nearly caused the accidents I was trying to avoid.

 In contrast one of my daughters learned to drive in her teens and took to it like fish to

water.  She was completely uneffected as she maneuvered through traffic.  To this day I think that she is a better driver than me just because of the way that she approached it from the beginning.   She decided risks would pose no problem for her, and so....they didn't.   Kids do that too.    They tie sheets around their necks like capes and leap from the top bunk or use plywood  and bricks to make a ranp, then pedal their bikes at full speed, propelling themselves high over terra firma  dismissing the fact that the ground is hard, the bike unsteady and their handling skills in question.   More often than not they land just fine. Maybe a bit bruised or battered but charged from the experience; excited to try again.   Careless, stupid, some might say, but  fearless.

At some point as we mature we become keenly aware of liabilities.   We know that  injuries could  be sustained and consequences might have to be endured,.  We take fewer and fewer uncalculated leaps.  We fold up our capes and put them neatly in the linen closet, use the ramp bricks to line the driveway, make a nice shelf out of the plywood, and lean the bike against the wall.  I don't want to live like that anymore.

Here's the thing:  There is nothing to be gained from a cookie cutter lifestyle except improving the odds that every day will be the same -  No risks.  No challenges.  No life in your style.  I am too young for that and, if there is blood in your veins,  so are you.  There are many fantastic ideas that we dismiss because the time is not right or "I couldn't" or "shouldn't" but seriously -- why?    We get this one life, this one portion of the universe,  we should make it matter.  Let's open up the linen closet, tie a sheet around our necks regardless of the threadcount, and start a steady climb..