High Risk High Reward is the Soul of Adventure

“If I die, I die. But I refuse to live half alive.” This quote's source is anonymous, but I thank a dear friend for sharing it with me.

What's high risk, high reward? Well, usually in Poker you bet a lot in hopes others will match your bet. That increases the price of the pool, and thus the potential amount you could win—if you win that is. If you don't, then you'll have lost your bet. But if you win, you get the whole pool. That's not all either. You get a little rush of dopamine too. That little "rush" is very addictive, and means you'll probably be playing poker again.... and again and again. Which, I believe, can be fun in moderation. All your brain is doing with that rush is saying you've done something right. That's the problem though. Maybe you did something wrong to get that rush? Like everything, you've got to find a delicate balance and think through what you're doing. If winning the pool feels good, experiencing that feeling again will take precedence above everything else. Just depends what caused the feeling, and where the pursuit of that feeling's continuation will lead you. So think.

Thus, high risk, high reward. The opposite's true. If you play it safe, you'll get small results. You'll never lose as much, and in that regard you're safe, but you'll never go anywhere. You'll never earn as much money, you'll never grow out of the ruts you fall into, and you'll never know what you could have been. There's a quote by John Eldredge that sums it up.

It's not limited to boys. The entirety of the natural world takes risks in the off chance that the next species, next generation may be better off. Sometimes the most value can come from things that don't last, but are cherished while they're still here. Like melting ice cream. No joke, that's a really good example. I'd say that's along the lines of the High Risk, High Reward axiom. Maybe ice cream's so good because it can only last a short time? I'd say the same with vacations and holiday seasons.

It's important to risk things for the chance to have a greater future. That is the soul of adventure - a risky journey fraught with dragons, and of course... the gold which the dragons hoard away.

But, if you win a bet and get the dragon's hoard, you've got the gold. You've got the taste of adventure. It's got you caught like a fish on a hook, beckoning you to be the adventurer once more.

This call to adventure is muddled by our modern litigious, phone-drained society we find ourselves in. Though I know gambling and the likes can be fun, I believe them to be easy outs for a long-lost desire within the hearts of humankind. Every playground has to be covered in foam, as if they forget there are dangerous rocks and boulders to be found and climbed on elsewhere. Every single shred of danger - and thus shred of adventure - is crushed by rule after rule. I think overtime people have forgotten that adventure is a deeply needed lifeforce. No wonder why modernity is so depressed and anxious all the time... they have no proper outlet for a dopamine- endued journey. They find their dopamine rush in things like gambling, porn, internet clicks, and potato chips... no longer the risk of rushing into battle or traversing North America to find the Fountain of Youth.

To end, it's okay to be addicted to risk and rule breaking (within a certain moral code of course, but that is another essay). But, if you have people around you that depend on you, stop and reconsider. Maybe its best to take the gold that you have, and store it up for the next generation of adventurers. It's awesome to have vast riches you worked hard to get, but make sure to use it properly.