Re: [Paddlewise] The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure

Maybe they *do* love their pastime more than their family. But if so --
that's their choice.  And there's nothing wrong with it, provided all
parties are aware of it and satisfied with the situation.
 ---Rsk


Is it really so calculated as "I love my passtime more than my family"? 
I love my family more than paddling but still choose, and love to choose,
high risk paddling adventures.  My own belief is that my highly developed
sense of denial allows me to choose paddling, with all attendant risks,
convinced that, this time for sure, it will not result in an obituary
that said I loved paddling more than my family.

I also subscribe to the definition that says "denial" is a necessary
defense against despair.  Without denial, I don't think I would ever
drive a car - which is far riskier, I think, than paddling.  Especially
considering the way I drive.  Nor would I eat high fat foods, tell my
boss she is overweight or any of the other things I do and, somehow,
manage to get away with.  For now, anyway.

Hubris certainly enters into the paddling equation as well.  I'm a really
good paddler and I won't kill myself.  But I have done things that, in
hindsight, could easily have killed me.

So, my opinion only, I think it is best to tell it the way it is:  "I
promise you, my dear family, that I will not die on this paddling trip. 
And if I do actually die, say at my funeral that I was a liar. But don't,
please, ever say that I loved paddling more than you."

Jim Tibensky
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