parlous

\PAR-lus\

adjective

: full of danger or risk : hazardous

in my mind, there are three types of risks you can take:

risks for the sake of an adrenaline rush (riding your bike with no hands)

risks in the name of recklessness (having sex in the back of a movie theatre)

risks to potentially learn something (moving cross-country to a strange city with no plan)

of course, the lines between these are often blurred—there is a bit of adrenaline, foolishness and wisdom among all of them. and they are all potentially PARLOUS.

i don't know that i would really call myself a risk-taker, per se (although i have partaken in all of the above activities). there is such a spectrum of risks that really anyone can say they participate in possibly hazardous behavior on a daily basis (touching the hand rail on the NYC subway, buying something off ebay, leaving the house...). but i think the term risk-taker implies something extreme, often associated with people that are willing to jump out of airplanes or drink ten shots of whisky on an empty stomach. essentially, risks of a physical variety.

maybe i'm just a wus, but i truly believe one of the riskiest moves anyone can make is to foil expectations. i try to do this on a regular basis. it keeps me from getting trapped inside both my own personality and the world's idea of who i am supposed to be. if you're gonna jump out of a plane, do it because no one would ever expect you to, not because it's "risky." if you are the kind of person people think would jump out of a plane, maybe you should take a macrame class instead. turn everyone's world upside down with your knotting skills. get them thinking.