Am i addicted to risk-taking-activities?
...i fabricated 'an urgent sea rescue' last night just so i could get my adrenaline / dopamine / rush... is there anything wrong with that?
Why are some people compelled to take chances, while others are perfectly content to play it safe? Or, to phrase it differently - why am i a total nut-risk-taker, while others prefer to sip tea? Is there something WRONG with me? Jana must have pondered this question (many times I'm sure !) - cause she casually handed me a book that discusses this very topic... The Science of Happiness.
So, is there something wrong with me? Well... this book claims there may be a common trait among all risk-takers... we do not absorb dopamine (and other feel-good drugs the body naturally produces) as well as other 'normal' people. So, if you're a happy-go-lucky-corp-america-is-just-fine-with-me-kinda-guy then your brain must be sucking down the dopamine and your essentially stoned all the time. lucky you.
Others of us. not so lucky. we must produce TONS of dopamine to achieve the same result. That means we must take more risks. And when we run out of risks - or when life just isn't risky enough - we simply double down. chase it with a fireball. supersize it. go all in. or run from the cops.
... back to last night. it was raining. windy. fairly large whitecaps. high tide. cold. dark. just plain ugly. Yes, this was a perfect night to sit inside and drink tea... for normal people. Instead, i was pondering our rowboat - tied up to the buoy, getting pounded by waves, full of water - and what about the rope? It must be strained by the extra weight and ready to break any minute... "i've got to save the boat!"
A half hour later I was launching my kayak into the dark surf with my wetsuit, lifejacket, safety strobe, bail bucket and extra rope. Imagine a navy seal on a special night ops mission... ok, it was nothing like that. Now, imagine a middle-aged bald guy in complete darkness getting pounded by the waves struggling to keep right side up. Ahhhh the dopamine.... sooooo gooood....
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