Take it...

Sometimes you just gotta' take a risk.

Those are my two 'littles'. Yes, we call their older sister and brother the 'bigs'. Anyway, those are my two 'littles' perched atop a 350ft sand cliff overlooking Lake Erie.

We were climbing (my wife and older two a ways behind us on the ridge), I looked up, the sun was setting, the light was perfect so I told 'em to hop right up on the ledge (yes, I tested it first) so I could grab this shot.

Pretty epic.

Was it risky? Slightly.

Was it worth it? Certainly.

After I took the shot, my 'littles' walked ten feet further (away from the actual ledge) and began their jumping, hopping descent; kind of like slalom skiing, but on sand with no skis.

I did the same, except I walked up to the ledge they'd been standing on, took a good look, took a moment to hope that my 42 year old body could do what it did when I visited the same ledge a decade ago and...

I jumped.

Slalomed MY way down, like on sand but without skis.

Super fun.

Yes I'm sore today. Yes I was stressed about it at the time, thinking concurrently how awesome the moment was and how quickly it could turn from awesome to horrible.

But, as I look at life I don't see any way around it. Risk and reward are intrinsically linked. If you want that moment of reward, sometimes you just gotta' jump.

So, next time you're contemplating a risk, consider the many facets at hand, then...

Take it.

T