Taking the plunge

This post is inspired by a particular Calvin & Hobbes Comic strip I saw a while back. They say it takes all sorts to make the world and this one is about those who believe in adrenaline pumping adventure versus the stable calculated-risk taking people.

There are those of us, who move, and take that leap of faith- much like Calvin

We want to make that dangerous, crazy and potentially life changing move. The move to which the outcomes are unknown and untested. The move where we know that if we don’t do it, we will regret it and if we do manage to do it, we have no way of knowing if it will work! And rigor mortis sets in. We can’t move. Can’t look straight and just can’t respond. In many cases, we don’t even believe we are actually going to take that plunge. But it’s a leap of faith. The hope of feeling free- for that instance. The feeling of doing something so exciting that nothing else seems to matter. And we jump right in. Be it extreme sports, roller coaster rides, entrepreneurship, love or just a ride down a snowy hill on a simple sledge! Because some of us are just built that way. The adrenaline overtakes the common sense and we end up believing that taking that plunge is the only way out of a boring existence!

The amazing part of this leap of faith is that in spite falling, bruising ourselves or getting temporarily disoriented, most often, we survive to tell the tale. We learn what we should have done differently and we pick ourselves up to be a better individual. We never regret not trying. And it is in those moments of a free-fall or of rising after we have hit the ground hard and fast, that we feel the adrenaline course through our veins. A feeling that is unparalleled.

And then there are the rest of us who see the senselessness in it all and walk other way- a la Hobbes!

They evaluate the risks. See the dangers and think before acting. They may not necessarily lack the courage but maybe lack the will to test their limits (or luck)! They believe in living to see another day. They may not even feel the need to challenge a status quo. Maybe because they support the status quo and are happy doing it. And to the people falling in this category, the level-headed ones, they are ones who bring stability. They are those who build organizations, set up processes, opt for safer sports, and walk the other way when the risks don’t balance the thrills for them.

Staid as it may sound, I believe that they are the ones who balance the Calvin in us. Who make us stop before we jump time-and-again. They nag us, they hold us back, they talk ‘sense’ and tell us that sometimes it’s better to sit this one out.

The beauty in life is that we co-exist and can’t do without each other! Most of us have a Calvin and a Hobbes within us. Some of us let Calvin outweigh Hobbes while others are vice-versa. But once in a while, shake thing up and let the dormant side take over. Let the explorers be born out of a Hobbes and the Calvin’s take a step back, for what’s life without out a little mix and match!

As for me.. Im off looking for snow and a sledge J