Living On The Edge

   
      For most of my life the world has told me that I take the easy road. The one with the least risk and adventure. The trail that will eventually lead to where all others join, but with significantly fewer exciting uncertainties. I've heard stories about the paths others explore. And you know what? They do sound pretty exciting. Dancing the night away in dimly lit rooms with music pounding through your body. Having a good time with your friends drinking fruity concoctions that make your head spin. Sometimes slipping out of the house in a sleeveless little black dress for a night on the town. For years I've heard the screaming "take a chance, it'll be worth it!" And when that opportunity is passed up the world turns to mock me. "Square, goody two shoes, no sense of adventure. Too afraid to take a chance?"

Well now I have something to say about it: What I do is anything but easy. I live a life more on the edge than the world has ever offered me. Would it be risky to go to the club when asked? Maybe. But the real risky thing to do would be to face the opinion of my friends, peers and classmates. To see the disappointment in their eyes when I say I won't spend that time with them. To open my mouth and say no.

  I could have taken the chance when unexpectedly the most attractive, charismatic guy I know, who I've admired for pretty much my whole life, came calling my number. The world tells me this is the kind of risk to take. But the bigger gamble was telling myself no because I knew we didn't share the same standards.

   Tell me it was the easy life to wear knee length shorts in the sweltering hot summers. Or that looking for a one piece bathing suit while bikinis filled the sales bins was a breeze. Tell me that when I had to spend extra money for alterations on a graduation dress and to walk into a room of 700 and be the only one in a perceived 'old fashioned' sleeved-dress I wasn't taking a chance at being ridiculed.

   What is the greater challenge? Being like everyone else? No. It's standing out that presents the greatest opposition, that pushes us to our limits, and forces us to make far more perilous decisions than fitting in ever will. While future generations may remember you for your life, I would rather be honored for I stood for in it.

Dear World: Your act is in a rut. Step it up a notch. I'll be waiting for you on the edge of life. It's a risk worth taking.