So, earlier today Alexis and I went for a walk out in the woods behind our home. We walked along the Jabish Brook, or at least we tried to - there were plenty of thornbushes and brush that we had to whack through.

At one point, we started figuring out ways to cross the brook, but there really wasn’t a good spot to cross. The brook wasn’t very deep - not more than thigh level at best, maybe waist-deep in spots - but the water was icy cold and the day was chilly. Sure, we wouldn’t *die* (necessarily) if we fell in, but it would certainly be quite a frozen experience.

And at one point, we found a tree that had fallen across the brook, and decided we would shimmy across! Now, of course, neither of us had done something like this before, and Alexis was feeling nervous of her sense of balance.

In the spirit of being reckless, I started out onto the tree first, and soon found myself walking precariously on the warped trunk while Alexis watched from the bank and encouraged me on. Soon enough I ran out of side branches to hold on to and the trunk warp got bad enough that I decided to try going across by straddling the trunk.

Crouching down, though, I ended up putting the wrong foot on the wrong side of the trunk and sat down rather abruptly on the trunk but facing the wrong way: backward. To which Alexis said: “Oh! That’s an interesting way to try it, going backward!”

And I had a puzzled and comical expression on my face, feeling quite unsure what to do next

This was when the following major truths on the reckless life were suddenly revealed to me:

Reckless Truth #1: When doing something reckless for the first time, you are going to feel and look incredibly uncool.

I mean, there I was, having talked a lot about being reckless, telling my wife all about this reckless passion thing, while also being frankly honest about how I had NOT been reckless in a while, and now I was on a tree log above an icy brook straddled across it facing the wrong friggin’ way. How uncool!

Reckless Truth #2: Get used to it.

And that’s the truth. The reckless life is about stepping into the unknown - and into paths very few have tread before. That’s what sets the reckless life apart - there are few trails. You find adventures that others were not looking for. So you’re going to look uncool, you’re going to look like you don’t know what you’re doing (because, frankly, most of the time you’re not going to know what you’re doing), and you’ll find yourself straddled across a log looking back at the people on the bank and thinking to yourself: I must look like an idiot right now. But it’s *you* on the log, above the icy river, not the people on the bank. It’s *you* in the adventure, not them. And the people who love you and know you the most will think you are actually quite hot.

Reckless Truth #3: Take your wife with you.

I made it across, and it was quite a rush! Alexis came out across the log afterward, and she was quite unsure if she’d make it, but when she did the feeling was quite extraordinary - we had both shared an adventure.

Now, in the grand scheme of things this was just a small thing - a walk in the woods - but it meant a lot to share the experience. And more importantly, when I was out on the log, she encouraged me and helped me see how to reposition myself

Reckless Truth #4: Pray for adventures - and go find them.

Don’t plan time for adventures - just go find them If you go looking for adventures in the journey with God - trust me, He *loves* it when you ask to join his adventure You’re in for the ride of your life!