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Let yourself fall down more

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Re: Let yourself fall down more

#21

Post by bsuvc »

The thing is, falling down (ie. failing at things) can take a lot out of you, physically, mentally, financially, spiritually.

For most of us, taking calculated risks is better than simply taking more risks.

And the risk calculation changes based on your personal circumstances: physically falling has a greater impact on an old person than a young person, making a financial mistake has a greater impact on someone who has no savings than someone who is wealthy, etc.

So "let yourself fall down more" isn't really one size fits all advice.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#23

Post by libertine »

criddell wrote: post #17
erictd wrote: post #6

Falling is a skill like any other - the more you fall, the better you get at it.

90 year olds must be excellent at falling then. At least way better than toddlers.

Luck plays a role in this. My grandmother took so many falls, in the process broke her leg once, and then proceeded to take even more falls, and she was lucky to never break anything again.

I'm not saying falls are recommended for the elderly, or that they should take risks that can lead to falls - but luck, just like I'm anything in life, plays a role.

Some people can't afford to live like they're made of glass, with all the support a available for them to prevent such events.

If you're not a wealthy elderly, or if you don't have a family willing to take sacrifices, then your luck starts to drop A LOT.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#24

Post by scubbo »

vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #11

“ If you take a lot of chances, that adds up eventually and you'll have some big wins. Just do it safely, so that they don't add up to a lot of big losses, too.” “Just” do it safely. If it’s safe, you are not really taking chances.

"safely" is shorthand here for "with an appropriate degree of safety net and recoverability". There is a whole spectrum of risk between "only carrying activities that are 100% certain to succeed" and "trying anything, absolutely anything, with no thought given to how I'll react/self-protect if things go wrong"

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#25

Post by lioeters »

pasquinelli wrote: post #7
pmg102 wrote: post #5

> But the thing is? Falling doesn't have to be dangerous Every time you use a question mark in place of a comma? A kitten dies.

question marks for non-questions drive me crazy. when i read them i hear an annoying tone, that's all. makes me vomit.

Like in some English-speaking regions of US, Canada, maybe Australia, they end every sentence with a rising intonation like a question? Or some people, perhaps with insecurity about who they are, end their sentences weakly without determination and final authority, so it sounds like a question - like seeking approval of those around them? And then there's the "TED Talk candence" as another comment phrased it, often heard in corporate presentations or speeches, the patronizing tone of engaging with your audience like kindergardeners, asking them a non-question only so the speaker can spoon-feed the answer?

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#26

Post by genxy »

clueless wrote: post #15

> If you take a lot of chances, that adds up eventually and you'll have some big wins. Just do it safely, so that they don't add up to a lot of big losses, too. And here is great contradiction in this whole essay. You can't "safely" take a lot of chances and not lose big, when in most cases to have big wins, one has to do unsafe things... This is also why folks who have a safety net (in terms of family wealth, etc) t…

Step 1 have resources, Step 2 boot strap yourself.

If you really want to succeed, you need to pick the best parents.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#27

Post by jhinra »

I'll join the chorus of saying that falling down at age 40 means my skinned knee is still healing three weeks later. I'm very risk tolerant, but it's striking how the tides have turned on healing.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#29

Post by svat »

This post rests on:

> Falling doesn't have to be dangerous. You can fall a lot without getting hurt, if you learn to fall safely. With inline skating, you have protective gear (helmet, knee/elbow pads, wrist guards) which protect you, and you have techniques for falling which let you use this gear to its fullest potential.

Is that actually true? Is it possible with enough protective gear, that falling can be safe, even for older people? Doesn't your own body weight come into the picture, despite helmets and knee pads? (Genuinely curious!)

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#30

Post by Beestie »

antonyh wrote: post #13
ray_v wrote: post #3

Falling down when you're 50+ is a HELLAVA lot riskier than falling down when you're younger. This appears to be a blog post about risk tolerance - which of course changes dramatically depending on lots of factors. If I fall as a middle-aged person, I'm much more likely to cause permanent, irreparable harm to myself - which, maybe not worth the rewards.

Came here to say this. I don't want to fall down not because I fear the fall, I fear the not getting up.

I'm at a point in life where all the major forks are in my rear view mirror. But when you are young, energetic, don't have dependents and have time to recover then you should absolutely take calculated risks. Playing it safe will haunt you in your later years.
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