Over the decades, I have known a couple of people who seemed to take outrageous chances. They were, as a rule, bright, funny, athletic and of the ones I kept up with, they tended to die or get disabled young. (Car racing, scuba diving, etc.) You might argue that living on the edge is the only way to experience life. I began to see such people as having a death wish. It seemed they kept pushing the edge to see if they’d fall off.
Of course, here’s the differences and this may be the reason. I am happy/satisfied building a car, reading/writing a book or having a great conversation. None of this was true of the ones I got close enough to notice what they liked.
Some of us make it to old age, unfortunately, the injuries do add up.
Well, I’m not one, my grandfather, my uncle (mom’s brother) myself and my grandson all drive or drove race cars. I’m 65 and the older ones all died of natural causes.
I also have hunted the wild areas of the world from Alaska to Africa, raced motocross, showed cutting horses, and a competitive shooter with shotguns and handguns. I like competition.
It doesn't mean we will necessarily die young. I was a 10k runner, scuba diver, mountain trekker, skydiver, world traveler, and off-road explorer. I am over 80 years old as are many of my friends.