I have something that’s been weighing on my mind for the past few days.
Recently, a friend of mine lost a family member to a skydiving accident.
He left behind a young wife and baby daughter.
Sky diving was on my list of things to do in the near future.
In discussing the situation with two of my friends, one of them said “Don’t do it until the kids are all grown up.”
The other friend said, “You can’t not do things because there is a risk involved. Life doesn’t stop because you have kids.”
And, suddenly, I can see both points.
I’ve always been a risk taker and have always been interested in going higher, farther, faster.
As I age, I’ve found that I want to reach out and try more things that I haven’t done before. Maybe I hear the mortal clock ticking in my ear. Maybe I’m just crazy.
However, I want to do these things, and part of why I want to skydive and take a trapeze class and bungee jump is to teach my kids that it’s okay to take risks and to try new and scary things.
And yet…what if something did happen to me?
Is it selfish of me to want to do these things while I still have young kids?
Should parents put those dreams on the shelf until their kids are older and are living their own lives?
I’m interested in what other people think about this topic and would appreciate any and all comments on the topic.
