Looking Out...

...of the window of the Trail House after class this morning.  The videos playing on Red Bull television on the monitors mounted around the room were taken by a Go Pro camera mounted on a kayaker's helmet as he hurtled down a waterfall somewhere. Usually the videos are of mountain bikers hurtling off a cliff, doing a few flips and landing (most times) on their wheels, much like those on the bike in the window (note the massive shock absorbers on the front stem). 

I have done plenty of things that have scared the heck out of me. But I have done them with an overabundance of caution. I know what an adrenalin rush feels like, and I know the enormous feeling of satisfaction of facing fear and conquering a challenge, but I don't know what it is that makes one take on a challenge that defies the odds. It almost seems that to excel at something one must be able to set aside fear and timidity and approach whatever it is with abandon and confidence. 

I heard a story on the radio the other day about CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) a 'progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma (often athletes)'. A reporter talked with a woman with many relatives including her father, brothers, uncles and cousins who all played football in the NFL. When her son was born she said he was 'enormous' and she couldn't wait to sign him up for his first football league when he was four years old. Only somewhere in the South would there be a full contact, helmets and pads football league for four year olds. During a practice he was encouraged to tackle a four year old half his size and make him 'eat dirt'.

This mother was telling this story to a reporter with full awareness of how insane it sounded and equal awareness of how much she wanted her kid to play football 'because this is the South and that's what we do here'. She was funny but she wasn't cavalier. She was obviously struggling to understand, especially in light of the fact that several of her relatives, including her own father, were showing signs of memory loss, depression, uncontrollable mood swings and headache. (The life expectancy of those with CTE is 51 years). She wanted her son to play football, but she didn't want him to play football. She was realistic and funny and she recognized that her struggle was between culture and common sense.

Fortunately for her, her son decided he didn't want to play football and she did say she would never force him to play. He sounded a bit haunted by the fact that as a 65 pound four year old he had tackled another kid and forced him to 'eat dirt'. The reporter interviewing him (now 9 years old) asked him if there was another athletic endeavor that interested him. 
'Synchronized swimming', he replied.
His mother burst out laughing in the background
'You're playing me', said the reporter
'No', said the boy, 'I think it looks cool'

I think the brains of people who do extreme sports or take life threatening chances are just different to begin with. Maybe it's not really a matter of size and stature or culture, it's just that they're wired differently.