All too often we fear the unknown. We do not like uncertainty. We lack the confidence to do anything but stand still in many cases. I say “we” because I am certainly guilty of it too. So many people pursue a lifestyle simply because it is safe. The lifestyle is regarded by society as the “proper” thing to do. As children, we talk about becoming astronauts and Power Rangers and rocket scientists and Cirque De Soleil trapeze artists. I don’t know the proper title for a trapeze expert I apologize. I do know a rocket scientist and he is so cool. We then grow older and start to accept the cold reality that our childhood dreams might be a bit far fetched and we should not consider them possibility. Then that realm of possibility becomes very small until eventually microscopic. All because of one four letter word. Risk.
We don’t like it. We don’t want it. Get it out of here. It is not welcome. Risk is one of those things that I’m pretty sure no one likes. It is uncomfortable. It causes terrible things like stress and anxiety. It smells bad. Yes risk smells bad you read that right. But what if we were more tolerant of it? What if we invited it in and let it stay for dinner?
Now I’m not telling you to take a risk for you. No no no no no. This post is very much selfish on my part. I love all the new gadgets and cool applications and awesome new services that come out on a daily basis. All of them would probably be non-existent if not for risk. I realize this. I took a rather large risk today. Tomorrow I will take another one. One risk a day no matter how large or minuscule.
I learned a valuable lesson in the past 30 hours. I lost my puppy yesterday morning. He has gone to the Rainbow Bridge where there is an all you can eat buffet of meatballs, eggies and huge chunks of cheese. He was my best friend. He was my protector. I’m going to miss him dearly because he made the last 10 years of my life so much better because he was a part of it. If you are not a dog person you won’t understand my last few lines but that is fine. The lesson I learned was to live a little. And I don’t think one can live a little without taking some risks. No problem with starting small. Ask that guy or gal out on a date. And progress to rather large. Pitch a sale to someone way out of your league. Start that business you were thinking about launching. Take that trip to Thailand by asking your boss to work remotely for a month. And don’t let anyone talk you out of taking the risk. If the risk results in failure, was it catastrophic? Is it something you can never take back or reverse? 9 times out of 10, I doubt it. Live a little. Risk.
