balancing risks and rewards is simply difficult.

Each of us has a different threshold for risk. I remember as a kid, I had a friend who was fearless on a skateboard, would jump off anything without thinking. I was a more calculating as a child and it was actually much later in life where I took on more risk. I even got ahead of myself a few times and came close to paying for it in the worst possible way, by almost dying. This taught me to measure my abilities in terms of my physical and mental strengths but also through my experiences and ultimately to trust my feelings. I also learned that making mistakes, ideally not huge ones or at least not life threatening ones, teach me more than any success I may have. The unfortunate thing is that I spent a good deal of my life being afraid of making mistakes because I was too focused on what people thought of me. I was focused externally and not really paying attention to what was going on inside.

It’s the complex, confusing and repetitive nature of modern life, that often lulls us to sleep and makes the path to taking appropriate risk so unclear. We all can get lost. I believe that this is where most of us fail: in the everyday challenges of life. We go about our days without reaching, challenging and connecting to ourselves and the important people around us. This separates us from our strengths and keeps our minds filled with doubts, and fears about ourselves, our lives, our purpose and disconnects us from all we could achieve. To clear away the clouds, we must take risks everyday! Extend ourselves beyond what is comfortable physically and emotionally in every moment.

Simply put. You must try to push yourself physically, intellectually and emotionally everyday. The rewards will come.

A telling example of how far it can take to truly appreciate life and all that you have comes from a true survivor, Beck Weathers. Beck Weathers was a part of the ill fated 1996 Everest Climbing Expedition that ended with the deaths of many climbers and for Beck, the loss of both hands, parts of his face and other parts of his body. Upon his return, he was asked a question which seemed simple and obvious. The question was: “If you knew what was going to happen to you, would you do it again?”
His initial response was : “what a dumb question! I mean take a look a me, I’m a train wreck!”
But with the passage of time he revisited that question more than any other and came to know the real answer: He would do it again in a heartbeat.

But not for the reasons that you might think. He describes how by going through those horrible events and dragging himself literally back to life he ultimately learned how to live again. He salvaged relationships he had destroyed and for the first time in his life he was at peace. I admire Beck Weathers more than any other person on that expedition because of his honesty and the obvious transformation that he experienced and shares now with us.

For a detailed and poignant version of the 1996 Everest Expedition see David Breashears film Storm Over Everest appearing on PBS Frontline. You can purchase it on iTunes as well.

Here’s a brief transcript of that story that I find incredibly interesting and provides real insight into the Why it matters that we take risks

DAVID BREASHEARS: By dawn, the teams were just below the southeast ridge at 27,600 feet. It’d been five weeks since they’d first arrived at Base Camp. Each team was its own small world. The clients were paying their way, and the professional guides like Rob and Scott promised access to a dream.

HELEN WILTON, Base Camp Manager, Rob’s Team: I felt like a part of something great. I really- I really think that to do something with people for a common purpose is a wonderful thing, and to help people to achieve their dreams is something that caught me, as well. So much emotion and experiences and demands of you happen in such a short space of time, six weeks of intensive living. I never thought I’d ever do this in my life.

NEAL BEIDLEMAN: I think everybody has a place in themselves that mountains can fill. Mountains carry great respect with people around the world, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that many people use mountains to find this. That’s what I did myself.

BECK WEATHERS: I’d spent most of my adult life in profound depression, and I John Wayne’d it, so that I never let anybody know about it. And I discovered that if you drove your body hard, when you did that, you couldn’t think. And that lack of thinking, as you punished your body and drove yourself, was amazingly pleasant.

SANDY HILL: Other people, when they have- when their life is at a difficult spot, turn to drugs or drink or credit cards. I go to the mountains. That’s always worked for me.

LENE GAMMELGAARD: As long as I, or human beings, believe that by doing something, the world is going to change – by doing this, I’m going to be more happy, by doing that, I’m going to be more successful, by doing this, people are going to love me more – then I think there will be this fantastic drive behind it.