An Assessment of Risk As It Relates To Happiness

Immediate Risk:

As an outdoor-lifestyle brand devoted to inspiring people to Get Outside and pursue their passions, we have a deep appreciation and respect for outdoor adventure athletes like Jeremy Jones, Alex Honnold, Jimmy Chin, and many more. When it comes to risk, it seems there is nothing riskier than what these athletes do. For Jeremy Jones, it’s descending some of the highest and steepest mountains on a snowboard. For Alex Honnold, it’s ascending the steepest rock faces in the world, often without ropes. For Jimmy Chin, who’s capturing all these athletes on camera, he’s done it all… From his unbelievable ascent of Meru, to riding along with Jeremy Jones on his wild adventures. Only difference with Jimmy is that he’s doing it all from behind the camera instead of in front. It’s clear to ALL of us, that these athletes take on a HUGE risk every time they do what they love. In most cases, it’s life or death. Which is the easiest form of risk for us to understand. After all, they are the most severe of consequences. One slip, one wrong step and you’re dead. However, there is a very different assessment of the risks they take, that doesn’t relate to the life and death nature of their act, it relates to happiness. Because at the end of the day, when people have interviewed these individuals, they couldn’t imagine their life WITHOUT having that risk… the snowboarding, the rock climbing, the extreme photography… They couldn’t imagine NOT DOING what they love…

“Go on that great adventure. Really follow your passion… And that’s a scary thing and a challenging thing. Because that means making some tough choices along the way at times and that’s just such an exciting part of life. To go, you know what, I know this is this far out there dream, but I am all in on it and it’s the only way I know how to live my life.” – Jeremy Jones

Long Term Risk:

Arguably the biggest risk in life is NEVER risking anything of significance.  Isn’t it after all, a risk to not pursue the things in life that make you HAPPY?  Perhaps not an immediate risk where the consequences are apparent, but rather a long-term risk where consequences may become more apparent later in life. Because when most people are interviewed at the end of their lives, their biggest regrets are typically that they spent TOO MUCH time working at a job they were unhappy with, NOT ENOUGH TIME with family and friends, and MISSED OPPORTUNITIES to do the things that they love.  Their biggest regrets are always the sacrifices they made for wealth acquisition and not happiness and family… They wish they would have gone on that trip of a life time, that they would have pursued a career they loved instead of one that made them the most money, that they would have spent more time with the people that mattered most to them. Above all, they wish they would have spent more of their life focused on happiness. 

The immediate risks that Jeremy Jones, Alex Honnold, and Jimmy Chin face on a daily basis are a matter of life and death. Spending life unhappy is barely living. That is why Jeremy, Alex, and Jimmy continue to face life and death, daily. Because they are doing what they love and what makes them happy, and they couldn’t imagine life any other way. It appears they have a very clear understanding of the Long-Term risks involved with putting happiness to the side.

“There's existential fears I have - losing passion and creativity and just kind of floating through life. When I feel a little lost - pulled away by the noise of what you're supposed to be doing and what your social following is - I go back to the things that inspire me.” – Jimmy Chin

Keep In Mind:

The risks that Jeremy, Alex, and Jimmy face are very REAL risks and should not be taken lightly. They are very well trained and practiced at what they do and are very measured in the approach they take each time they do what they do. For each of us our happiness and the risks we are willing to take to seek it out are personal decisions that we make, and must live with, no matter the consequence.  At The Happy Clothing Company we challenge ourselves and put ourselves at risk by pursuing our dream of building a business that matters, while not losing sight of why we are doing it. 

At the end of the day we are what our customers are…simply put we are all just Happy Seekers in our own right, and it is up to each of us to figure out what path works for us.  At The Happy Clothing Company we believe that the path to happiness begins outside so…

 Get Outside and Find Your Happiness!

Do More. Be Happy.