You have definitely heard about weighing risk and reward when it comes to going out and going on adventures. It is important to know your limits so that you can do as much in life as possible, yet you do not go so far as to hurt yourself or someone else. Deciding your limits can be hard especially when you have parents telling you one thing and peers or curiosity telling you something totally different. My motto is YOLO: you only live once. To me this means that I have to try and do as many things as I can and at the same time not sabotage the rest of my life.

I had to weigh risk and reward when I visited sand dunes on a trip to Michigan. I was with my family and we found an old log run that was turned into a sand dune. It was 50 stories long and looked just so beautiful. There was nothing I wanted to do more than to run down the sand dune. Now you would probably think that I should just do it, right? The problem was that my mom insisted that the run was too dangerous for me. She decided this because she saw a warning sign that there were no rescue people close by and that most people who go down the dune take an hour to climb back up. Despite the warnings my mom gave me, the dune looked manageable and I knew it would take me way less than an hour to climb up. I felt sure that I could handle the dangerous yet exhilarating log run dune. With my mom’s warnings noted, I ran down the loggers run just enjoying it and ignoring my mom’s hesitations. The run felt amazing and when I got to the bottom I dipped in the lake and looked at the amazing view and the huge sand dune. When I decided I was ready to climb back up the dune run, I knew my athletic abilities and I quickly climbed to dune in only six minutes. For that instance, I weighed the risks and I decided that based on my physical condition that I was fit for the experience. The danger was worth the experience.

On the other hand, risking a 50-story climb would not be smart for all people. Last summer I was just finishing my recovery from a broken leg and I could have probably climbed but risked getting re-injured. I also knew that the climb would take strong muscles and climbing skills, so people who don’t workout may have had trouble with the climb. It is important to know limitations like those so you do not get hurt. Still, if you think you assess the situation and see yourself being able to safely complete something then for goodness sake, just do it. Do not let your dreams be just dreams. You have to live a little to make life worth living. When you only live once, you cannot afford to sit back and watch fun pass you by.