Who [are] you calling reckless?

I read that in a Luke Skywalker kind of voice. There's a moment in the movie where Yoda tells him he's well.... reckless. Yes, I am one of those people, nerds if you wish. Picture the green guy telling you this after you did something incredibly stupid or showed off like Johnny Bravo; seriously doesn't it scare the crap out of you? Luke is arrogant and impatient. As a jedi trainee he is a time bomb waiting to explode, but he's just what every trainer needs. Okay, so really he's tame compared to Han Solo who would really like to drive Jabba the Hut nuts. Or how about Maverick from Top Gun? Mav does the oh- so-awesome circus stunt fly-bys that make you wish you were there just to see the air controller's face as the coffee spills all over him! I think there is something sweet about being off the wall, and no i don't mean stay up past your bedtime and eat junk food. I mean the kind that gets your blood running as if you jumped out of an airplane or you kissed the hottest celebrity and you weren't supposed to. I wonder if it's stories that would make Oprah and Dr. Oz greedy to share or it could be it was just plain fun 'at the time.' Who needs to wait for a bucket list when you have all of now to explore, cause trouble, be silly, and start a riot? If you are 14, congratulations you have so much time to kill! Yea, yea and all of us who aren't, say it with me in Soprano imitation:, " I could've been a contender." They tell you when you are young that it's okay to make those mistakes, be crazy, and create mischief. In college, it's a great way to mold what you can and can't handle. I find it demeaning when someone tells you that what you did is very bad, and you can never do that again. Well if you tell a toddler not to paint the walls, or eat the batter from your pudding, and to never do it again he will stare at you in shock then cry and two weeks later do it again. They did it, because they wanted to see how much they could test you, or get a rise out of ya. Some Christians say it's their war with God, that if they keep messing up they must punish themselves or they won't go to heaven or suddenly feel caught, when you did nothing wrong. People call them bad choices, or they regret this. That's ridiculous, you did it because you wanted to, and whatever anyone thinks is probably irrelevant because you did it, and honey it felt good didn't it? A glass of wine at dinner while doing chores before putting jr to bed? Do it. Going to Denny's at 3am and making swirling waves out of your hot cocoa and singing to the waitress. Did you do it? How about stealing the cookies from the jar, getting someone else in trouble, almost lighting something on fire, taking some of whatever that is....? Oh you did it. Then your parents smack you upside the head, ground you, and tell you what a... wait for it... 'reckless' kid you are. Car accident, DUI, smoked, drank, had sex, and the list continues. It's almost as if you are back in sixth grade playing never have I ever game and you hardly have any fingers down because you are a saint then. Look at you now, your track record is... oh my god you are so .....NORMAL. What drives me to boiling is when people tell you that you are never going to change or that oh you just had a bad night, or how about that's not you is it, or well if you just listened. Hold on. You are not 21 anymore or 14, or 18. Some of you have children, you are married, full time jobs, bills to pay, and all this responsiblity. So suddenly that 'but it was so funny and so worth it' becomes, dude how old are you, what the hell were you thinking, did you even look to see what happened?' It's not so sweet anymore. Sure we can go out and dress nice, get liquored up, have a good ole time, but there's a line drawn. If you come home without pants on, or there's no food in the house, and your wife or husband hasn't seen you in days, you smell like a dump, and the kids see, or you get fired, it's not sin, it's called rock bottom. Life has a balance that each person can create. I have my limits, and people can say what they like, but everyone needs to unwind once in awhile; not the wild from back in the day, but the good-natured, "loosen up, you're starting to lose it" kind. Alright so I can't be Maverick and fly upside down in a plane, but I can still go dancing, have a girls night out, go to happy hour and have a shot. Not damned if I do, it's damned if I don't. We aren't reckless, we only become so when we lose complete control over ourselves. Never have I ever what? It's not about whose innocent, or whose an angel. I won't be aspiring to be the next Lindsay Lohan, or Charlie Sheen, but maybe just a dash of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn and there we have it, a little angel, but with tiny red horns coming out of her head. No wait a minute... who you callin reckless?