Are Limits for Pushing?

By Daniel Taverne

How many times in your life have you warned someone you’ve had enough? I’m sure at one time or another, you or someone you know made a salute-like had-it- up-to-here gesture warning those within close proximity that a limit of civility was about to be exceeded. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, personal limits of self-control are only a fraction of the total amount of limits we Americans test everyday. That being said, it should come as no surprise that regardless of the consequences, we as a nation, can not resist pushing limits and social boundaries.

It wasn’t until I observed something on a recent bus trip home from the Veterans hospital in Jackson Mississippi that this article’s idea came to the forefront of my consciousness. What I observed in the seat across the isle from me, was an extremely obese woman flopping around in her fully reclined seat (flexing it this way and that) threatening to snap the bolts that secure the seat to the floor.

Despite my fear for the gentleman’s femurs sitting behind her, I couldn’t shake the idea that the limits of bolt strength were being tested. To that end, I soon realized we all push limits weather or not we want to admit it.

In no way though, am I suggesting the cause of the woman’s obesity is constant expansion of accepted norms of diet, but her constant munching while on the bus made me look more critically at politically correct excuses for such a condition.

Soon, I expanded my thoughts on limit pushing beyond the confines of that Greyhound, and began considering other more important and more controversial boundaries that have been crossed or expanded over the years. Strangely, most reasons given for the expansion of these types of limits is simple progress. That is, we live in a progressive time when conservative ideologies that use to guide people’s behaviors are considered trite, unnecessary, old fashioned and politically incorrect.

For instance, we have pushed the boundaries of accepted sexual behaviors beyond once accepted norms, and practices once thought of as deviant are now accepted. It should be noted here that this acceptance is not only a result of pushing our self-imposed-conservative-boundaries, but the boundaries set by nature as well.

Another limit pushed can occur on any given night. Any night of the week, we can drive down to the same restaurant and eat chicken, fish, pizza, shrimp, roast pork, and pork ribs; in addition to just about every side dish we can think of. Then, if and when we finish with the meal we can choose from at least 20 desserts. From cookies and ice-cream, to cheese cake and apple pie, it’s all there for our dining pleasure. Now with all this food purchased at one low price, think about the potential for waste. Do you think that a limit here is pushed also? I do, the limits of disgrace; especially when there are so many starving people in the world.

Then there are boundaries of safety that are crossed by man and machine that give cause for concern. I see this boundary crossed on television all the time by young men flying through the air on their motorized dirt bikes. Have you ever seen them? They soar 25 to 30 or more feet above the ground covering a distance of 50 feet or more, and perform some mid-air trick like “a superman” where the rider floats to the rear of his seat, letting his body elongate into a stretched out prone position only to grab the rear of his seat, pull himself back to a sitting position, then land without holding the handlebars. Although it’s exhilarating to watch , people who perform maneuvers like this need to get their heads examined, don’t you think?

Similar to the above safety limits crossed with machine, safety limits are very often crossed with animals as well. Consider, for instance, rodeo bull riders. Everyone in the sport knows they’re going to sport a scar or two, or twelve before their career is over, but every week, they continue planting their 150 pound butts on those 1500 pound bulls; pressing their luck. Why would anyone want to do that?

It’s pretty obvious that in both the above sports, the payoff for crossing the boundaries of safety is two-fold. First, they get that rush, that natural high that one can only experience by looking death in the eye. Second, the spectators cheering their close calls, and the prestige they feel after success is attained keeps them competing and crossing the line. In addition, the spectators keep coming back because they love the experience of watching the participants pushing the limits of life and death.

As you think about the limits and boundaries you push on a day-to-day basis, consider the reason you are giving yourself for pushing them. Then, ask your self if the payoff is worth the risk. Of course there are many occasions when the reward is worth the risk otherwise we would not have progressed from walking to riding horses, to cars, to planes, to jets, and finally to the space shuttle. But there are times when the reward is in no way worth the risk, so be prudent and choose your risks wisely. Otherwise tempting fate could cause you to fall flat on your face,.