Would a Teenager Go Skydiving?

By Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"It all starts with a SMILE"

Did you know that your teenager wasn't really mentally
challenged? Contrary to what we've all been led to believe over
the last twenty years, new research into the teenage brain is
showing us that teenagers may not be so mentally handicapped
after all. More about that momentarily...

People, research repeatedly shows, overestimate risk when
assessing a situation. I'm not necessarily talking about an
activity like skydiving, mind you. A friend recently tried to
talk my wife and I into skydiving with her, telling us that the
death from skydiving is a rare occurrence. My response? Death
from skydiving never, ever, ever happens...to people who don't
go skydiving!

Count us solidly in the later category!

But we almost always assess more normal activities as holding
more risk than they really do. You already know, from reading
"It All Starts with a SMILE", that I'm a big advocate of taking
risks. Like Nike used to say, "Just Do It"! Why? Because 7
out of 10 times, when you look back, you find you weren't REALLY
taking much of a risk anyway.

Take my son for example. Although he's forty-four, he has an
eight-year-old, boy (seemed like a good idea at the time, huh
Greg?). His young son is into scouting and begged Greg to take
him to the Boy Scout Jamboree this weekend. The highlight of
the event was a campout on the infield of historic Churchill
Downs.

Now, Greg is no fan of camping. Is you ask him he'll tell you -
why would anyone camp when she/he has a home and a bed (with a
mattress) that they've already paid for? In fact, according to
Greg, the term "Happy Camper" is a misnomer. The only "Happy
Camper", according to him, is the one who's leaving!

But Greg didn't want to disappoint his son, so off they went. Despite
Greg's visions of cold, damp tents and dirty, sweaty bodies.

And I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story. Sometime
around 11:30 last night, Greg told his son just how glad he was
that his boy talked him into this. And he even thanked the
young guy. The rewards far, far outweighed the risks. In the
end, Greg found (as we all almost always do) that those risks
weren't even real anyway.

By the way, the new research shows that the teenager's brain is
actually a perfect adaptation for the stage of life they are
in. Take risk taking, for example. If a teenage brain was more
fully developed, resembling an adult brain, they would never
take the risks they do - like making new friends, trying new
things, and moving out of the house. When I look at it that
way, I guess putting up with my children from age 14 to 18 was
worth it after all - since neither ever moved back!

Make a point to emulate a teenager this week and take a risk. See
what fun develops for you!

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Some Humor to Help You Smile

Whitney Cummings

"I was coming out of the store earlier, I just bought some Oreos
and some Chips Ahoy. So I get outside, there's this guy like,
'Hey brother, it's my birthday today.' And that was the first
time in my life, without any sarcasm, I could say, 'What? You
want a cookie or something?' "

Hannibal Buress

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Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
7406 Wesboro Road
Louisville, KY 40242
"It all starts with a SMILE"