LIVING ON THE EDGE

When you make your living handling king cobras, sometimes things don't work out the way you planned, and you lose a finger.  It's not that the cobra has anything against you.  He's doing his thing, and you're doing yours, and the result is that you lose a finger.  It's an occupational risk, just like people lose fingers while using power tools.

Handling cobras isn't a job for amateurs.  Snake handlers are wily wary professionals who understand the ways of snakes in general, and cobras in particular.  In the cobra handling business, there's a fine line between putting on a good snake show and utter disaster.  All the snake handlers we saw in Thailand were young, and I'm sure the quick reflexes of youth worked to their advantage.  I wonder what happens to middle aged and old snake handlers?  Are they still alive, or did they make one too many mistakes and perish in the line of duty?  I wonder if they have a saying like, "There are old cobra handlers, and bold cobra handlers, but no old bold cobra handlers?"

The thing I like most about snake shows is that the handlers understand the envelope of possibility, and they push the envelope to the limit.  They know that they can go only so far and no more without getting hurt, and that's exactly what they do.  They're high stake gamblers who understand the odds and know how to stay out of harms way.  They know exactly where the edge is.

I've often wished I could live closer to the edge, but that's hard to do when you don't know where it is.  Most of the time, I'm so far from the edge there's virtually no risk of falling off.

For the past eleven years, I've been sailing around the world on Exit Only, and when it comes to sailing, I've been there and done that.  Now it's time to work on some new edges. This is where I am right now.
 

1.  I've written five books that I plan to self-publish.

2.  I have over two-hundred positive web sites that I'm working on - my cyber real estate investment.
3.  I own the Positive Thinking Network - the Home of Positive Thinking on the world wide web.
4.  I have over two-hundred Positive Podcasts on the Positive Thinking Network.
5.  I have nearly two-hundred hours of round the world video to make into three DVDs.
6.  I have over twenty-thousand pictures from 33,000 miles of global adventure.

7.  I have three Defender Land Rovers ready to drive around the world.
8.  I still have Exit Only ready to sail on the ocean of my dreams.

There's an edge or two hidden somewhere in this list, and my new life goal is to discover it.  Stay tuned, because when I find the edge, exciting things are going to happen.

Life is good.