Late last night I read what Ellen wrote. She was talking about Seth’s piece on thrill seekers and fear avoiders. I read Seth’s post too. I woke this morning thinking about what I read.
Both of them avoided the word risk in the traditional sense. Seth said, “So why not call them risk seekers and risk avoiders? Well, it used to be true. Seeking thrills was risky. But no longer. Now, of course, safe is risky.”
Ellen said, “Thrill seekers move on, learn and live so that new opportunities soon wash over both thrills and fears in colors that open curtains of another Oscar possibility.”
They’re both right, but I still feel the risk — the Steve Farber OS!M of doing something when not doing something would be easier.
I guess, I’ll always be something of a thrill-seeking, risk taker. I won’t risk my life — no bungee jumping for me. The risks that I take are for the world that I believe in. I invest in every chance I can find to prove it’s okay to believe.
Sometimes those angels who are everywhere stand up and invest even before me.
I know some folks who are risking what they don’t really have to make something happen, They are investing in doing a usual thing in a remarkable way, solely becasue it’s time someone did. It’s not share the risk, share the benefit, because those who benefit won’t ever know — actually feel — the risk.
Somewhere along my life, I picked up a message that believing in heroes was naive at best. White knights and folks who do things without thought of gain or glory are often portrayed as fictional creatures. People who cared for my well-being told me that often enough. For them, I tried to believe, but how could I after the dad I had? My only recourse was to decide I’d rather be a fool than live in a world where heroes couldn’t be.
I chose right.
I’m taking that risk alongside those folks I talked about. And every day I watch them and think they are my heroes.
Heroes are ordinary people who have extraordinary values.
And they really do exist. They’re the ones who quietly do remarkable things so that we can believe.
