Why men need adventure

From Gary Thomas, Pure Pleasure

Personal photo in Seattle

I recently passed through a string of three significant injuries in three years—one a year—from training for marathons. My doctor said, “You know, Gary, you’re in your midforties now. Maybe it’s time to take up a different sport. Have you thought about riding bikes?” So I switched doctors.

In other words, while I ought to know what truly gives me pleasure, I also need to know my obligations and responsibilities. In certain seasons of life, a person’s personal desires must give way to the greater good of those around him.

While pleasures are important, they’re not paramount.

For many men, risk, excitement, and adventure is a necessary pleasure zone, which (like all others) needs to be managed or scheduled in.1 As a therapist, Dr. Weiss has a take that I lack. He counsels risk takers, “Remember that if risk is your primary soul pleasure zone, this is the well from which you drink. It’s as satisfying to your soul as any sensory experience you could have.”

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