I was just reading an interview with Richard Garriott (the first 2nd generation astronaut) in which he was talking about his trip into space. But he also spent some time discussing how he got to be in the position he’s in. As a young boy his dad was an astronaut with NASA and flew aboard Skylab! (He also did a shuttle mission later on). His mom was an artist. He was an impressionable teenager when Dungeons and Dragons came on the scene and the first personal computers made an appearance. He was perfectly positioned to become what he’s become – the premier fantasy game designer of the 80′s and 90′s.
He’s gone on African safaris, jungle adventures canoing down the Amazon, hunting for meteorites in Antarctica, visited the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean — just to name a few. Add now he’s been to space. But it’s not just his opportunities that have given him this chance. Sure – he had the silver spoon, so to speak, but he didn’t just sit around and go to Harvard. He decided to say “yes i want to do all this crazy stuff.”
It reminds me of the movie that came out last year (2008) with Jim Carrey – “Yes man“, in which Jim’s character goes to a seminar and afterwards says yes to every opportunity that comes his way – no matter what it is. It changes his life.
In my own life, i’ve had some opportunities. Nothing as spectacular as “hey, do you want to go into space” maybe, but still – chances to do things. It’s sometimes hard for me to say yes. I like the status-quo. I’m not super adventurous. But i want to be. Maybe not to the extend Jim Carrey was (i mean, the old lady next door? *shudder*), but more so than i am. I think i’ll work on saying yes a little more often and see what kind of adventure life takes me on.
