When you took your first step to walk as a child you chose to risk.  Living and learning are dependent on you becoming discontented enough with your current situation that you make a choice to risk.  For you as a child, sitting and crawling were not acceptable enough options.  So when you stood up and took that first wobbly step, you took a risk that changed your life. Personal growth, emotional maturity and relational authority are yours in much the same way.

For some of us this process of risking seems difficult at best and terrifying at worst.  For others it seems like “Risk” is their middle name.  In fact they would do well to risk a little less and think a little more.  Where do you fit on that continuum?  It is my conviction that the capacity to risk is something we are born with.  While it is possible to stretch our risk taking ability, we come into the world with some predetermined hard wiring that sets us up to naturally take risks or not.  One is not more healthy or mature than another because he or she takes risks.  Risk is an ability that needs to be embraced and managed by each one of us regardless of our natural inclination.  It seems to me as referenced in our obsession with reality TV, we hunger for meaning in life that so often only comes when we take some chances and trust ourselves.  Probably out of fear of ridicule or rejection we get comfortable sitting back observing others rather than pursuing opportunities of our own.  Of course  taking risks means that sometimes we fail.  It took Thomas Edison 10,000 experiments  before he discovered the light bulb.   There will always be someone ready to laugh at you or make fun of your attempts at greatness.  Never give up on the things important to you.

How has risk taking or the lack of it impacted your life?  Where is it easy for you to risk and where is it more difficult?

One of our convictions at www.outrightexposure.com is that risk is necessary for growth. But unbridled risk or risk done in situations that are dangerous does not lead to safety and maturity.  With all our coaching and mentoring programs we seek a healthy amount of risk that truly honors the individual and nurtures them along their own internal and external goals, not those of someone else.  You truly know when you feel safe enough to risk and what types of support and direction are most helpful to you.  To keep you thinking, check out some of the poetry in the Poems section.

If you’re up for taking some risks relationally and personally give us a call or drop us a email.  We look forward to hearing from you. 

. . . Poems