Going North

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.