Daring or dangerous?

I am a fairly daring person; I have been my whole life. That’s even how I got the nickname JJ! Being stupid and dangerous is not my thing, but being daring and gusty is second nature.

Then I fell in love with a very cautious man.

Last weekend while in Arches National Park, I wanted to step over a gap where two rocks were not connected. There was a three story drop off between and on either side to boot! It looked easy and scary at the same time.

E begged me not to, but my sister had just taken the step, and I’m not one to sit on the side lines. Of course, I took the step. I felt excited and brave afterwards, but E wasn’t happy.

My feeling was this was not a huge risk. The rocks were stable, the step was small, and if I fell I wouldn’t die! However, the man that loves me felt differently. He didn’t want me to be stupid and take an unnecessary risk. He didn’t want me to fall and badly hurt myself, or potentially die (I didn’t think I could, but he didn’t agree with me).

So, what to do? I understand and love that E wants me to be safe. I wouldn’t ever want him taking risks or putting himself in the way of danger. But how do I fulfill my need to be daring if I can’t take small risks (or what I feel to be small risks)?

I guess there is no easy answer. Next time I might listen to E, I don’t want him to be worried about me. But it is very hard to decide, because I felt very alive after that small step over the very deep gap!