Why do people risk?

I'm not sure why my mind has been mulling over this question, but it has.

I've noticed lately several people who have every reason to just pack it up or ride it out doing just the opposite.  Instead of coasting in comfort, they put some savings at risk to start a new business at age 55.  When everything inside them says to just hold onto the sure thing, they follow their dream to see if they can see it become a reality.  At the risk of jeopardizing their cash flow in the later years of their life, they invest not just cash, but mental energy, sleepless nights, endless toil, fears of failure...you name it.  They could stay home, live modestly, and get a predictable job making an acceptable wage and be just fine.  But they don't.  I would go further and say that they can't.

So here's what has me thinking.  What makes a person put their lives in danger or at the very least, in the fray of angst and anxiety?  When they could have relative peace, what compels them to offer themselves to peril.  What causes them to overcome the "what if's" and "if only's" that honestly make most people back down.  

I've met several people at various ages and stages of life who are taking the harder road for the greater good.  They are pressing into and going toward the life of risk to pursue meaningful things, consequential ambitions.  They have come to the conclusion that they would rather miss the mark as long as the take the shot.  They have reconciled in advance the cost of failure and have come to terms with that calculation knowing full well the percentages and statistics.  They aren't deterred by the stories of fatality and failure that have been thrown at them to remind them of the casualties of war that have claimed more capable lives than their own...they still move forward.

I've chased down some pretty big dreams and there is a thrill of victory and an agony of defeat that hangs in the balance like a drop of mercury.  I can justify a young person rolling the dice of danger for the possibility of success, for if they fall on their face, they still have time to save face.  They can get up, collect themselves, and, in time, recover.  This is the time when risk is justified and even encouraged.  When you don't have much to lose it's easier to lose.  But when you've already proved yourself and set yourself up for an easy path to the finish line, why would anyone in their right mind go after something that could put all that on the line?  

This is where my curiosity is piqued.  Right here.  What possesses some people to keep risking even when they have already done and proved so much?  The ones who have accomplished great exploits and pulled off amazing feats of faith.  The souls who have bled out in more than one battle already...why would they enlist in yet another battle when no one is demanding they do so, no one would criticize them if they didn't, no one would expect they would especially after all they've already been through.  But they do.  They can't not, as some people say.

They are the souls that I find remarkable.  I wonder if I could be such a soul.  I'm still 43 and I truly wonder if there will be a point of no return, when I will say, "I've paid my dues, I've done my time, I've laid down my life...now I have to protect what I have secured.  I have to venture forward with caution in order to make it to retirement without incident.  I have to play it safe for the sake of my family and reputation.  I can't risk any more and it wouldn't be prudent to do so."  I honestly wonder about that watershed and what I'll do when I reach it, will I keep putting my life on the line or will I temper my life at some point.  No one would blame me if I did.  So it's gonna be me staying on me to keep my eyes on the prize saying with Paul, "I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may win the race and complete the test the the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."  To consider this life as nothing compared to the great mission of living for eternity and all that represents the unseen world, this is the mark of one who is living for more than comfort in this life.  I would hope that I would take the road less travelled by...but for now I'm simply a man who is intrigued with the few who do.  I marvel at those who calculate the risk and take it anyhow for a higher call and cause.

I know I wasn't meant to achieve self-preservation, to get mine and keep mine.  To secure myself and cling to my securities.  No.  I am meant for more.  I am meant to keep pressing the boundaries and challenging the norms.  I'm meant to not take no for an answer and to create realities than need to exist and won't unless someone does something make them happen.  To look fear of the future and failure in the eyes and to say, "I see you and you make a compelling argument, but I'm going to do it anyhow.  I'm not supposed to live for my security.  I'm meant to pursue justice and Jesus...and until 'it and he' are here as they are in heaven, it behooves me to see that they are realized down on this broken planet.  So if I die, may I die putting my life on the line for the sake of God and others.  That kind of life is one worth living.  I want it to be said of me that I laid it all down for the sake of that call.  So help me, God."

"And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?" - I Corinthians 15:30