Which people are risk takers? Is
it the people who decide to change the cereal they buy each week and risk not
liking the new brand or is it the people who jump from planes with only a
simple nylon parachute to save them from becoming a human pancake?
It’s all relative really. The
person buying the new cereal knows that there is quite a high risk that they
will not like their new choice and will have to put up with it all week whereas
the chances of the skydiver’s parachute (or the emergency parachute) not
opening are extremely slim, if not unheard of.
Using this logic, the cereal swapper is the bigger risk taker.
Are the biggest risk takers those who take risks despite the odds being
against them or is it those who enter situations where the risk is low but the
fear factor is high? And can we always
differentiate between the two?
I am viewed by many of my family and peers as a risk taker because I
moved to Nigeria for no other real reason than I wanted a change. Maybe I am.
However I did my research and decided that the risk was minimal. Surely real risk takers are those who do
things ‘off the cuff’, with no real knowledge of the situations they are
entering into. I believe so. However, in my experience these risk takers
are the people who have the most fun, happen across the best experiences and
opportunities and LIVE their lives.
What has brought about all of these thoughts, I hear you say. Well, last week I was made aware of an
amazing trip to see the Durbars of Kano and Katsina, which are Muslim festivals
which take place in the North of Nigeria.
I have friends who attended the trip last year and returned full of
praise. They said it was a once in a
lifetime experience. So, naturally I
wanted to go. But going this year would
come with a certain amount of risk. The
troubles in Nigeria and all of the horrible scenes shown on the BBC come from
the ‘North’ of Nigeria. Bombings,
shootings and such like. It’s a sad time
for Nigeria.
Some of my friends are throwing caution to the wind and have booked
themselves up. They are willing to take
the risk and believe that nothing bad will happen. They have not taken advice nor weighed up the
risks and have decided to go without a second’s thought. This opportunity, to them, is too good to
miss. I’m saddened to say that despite
my inclination to ‘throw caution to the wind’ I have decided to sit this one
out. I like to do exciting things but
when the risk is ACTUALLY real I just don’t have the bottle.
It depresses me that I’m not always one of those people who grabs life by
the balls and takes every opportunity and maybe I have less fun because of it
but I like my life and yes I will one day skydive but, on the other hand, I will probably always
buy the same breakfast cereal.
