1/27/12

1/27/12

I feel like I have a serious amount of experience.

Like I have been places, met people, and done things a notch or two beyond the 'average' American. I have taken risks and pushed the envelope just to see that I could accomplish it... or get away with it (or not get caught by authorities at least).

After years I have remained free from incarceration, serious bodily injury, and death. Now I am not claiming to be a dare devil or to take risks like a spy or something. I'm not even necessarily comparing myself to anyone but my former self, or what I thought my former self to be.

I know I have experience because I continue to crave the opportunity for a challenge. It's not really the challenge as much as it is the reward and feeling of success. Triumph. Mission accomplished. Proving silly rules wrong.

I think there are cocktails of chemicals... neurotransmitters... hormones... that are released whenever a situation calls for their remedying. You know, the feel goods that your body secretes, dopamine, serotonin, maybe with a bit of adrenaline and cortisol? Your bodies defense against the pain of scary shit about to happen.

I'm pretty sure that if you were to be devoured by sharks, your body would be looking out for you and give you a serious blast of everything it had to possible to make being eaten alive as least painful as possible.

Adrenaline junkies may be a common name given to those craving the high risk, but I'm not jumping out of planes. There have got to be varying degrees of risk takers. It all comes down to what is considered risk; and who's doing the considering.

Risks involving police and the law are common to most. Risks in relationships or with emotion are another complicated hairy beast. The cops aren't going to arrest anyone for misery, betrayal, or dishonesty.

These risks are paid for with your soul. Risks of thyself, taken by giving too much. Investing what you do not have, poorly. As with most risks, there is redemption with time.

Yet I think these risks in relationships release similar cocktails to those excreted when defying death; gambling with your life, physically. Like base jumping, just in much lower concentrations.

The potent cocktail may be best, released when actually in action, mostly adrenaline. But the time-released cocktail seeped to your mind whenever you look back at your accomplishment, is priceless.