When asked, "What's the biggest risk you've ever taken?" I usually think back to quitting my stable office job for a company I really loved, surrounded by people I actually adored working with, in order to work from home, for myself, and figure it all out alone.
When you say it like that, it does sound risky! But it was a risk that I planned and prepared for. And as scary as the thought of leaving stability was, to me, the real risk was staying in that cubicle for one day too long and having it suddenly turn into 8 years. The real risk was to let myself be creatively unfulfilled for too long. Or personally unfulfilled, knowing that I was bound for something greater and more impactful then where that job could have led me.
As great and stable and excellent benefits providing as that job was, it just wasn't where I was meant to be, and I knew it.
So I decided to leave and hatched an escape plan. In telling my plans to others (bad idea) a lot of my co-workers were a) probably jealous but b) couldn't get over just how risky it sounded. A lot of people thought I was nuts and a dreamer to give up health insurance and a 401k for the total unknown.
But to me, it felt more crazy not to try. I began to feel it was actually riskier for me to stay put. And that's when I knew that leaving was a big scary risk worth the taking.
I made the leap, and haven't looked back since.
We take risks everyday of our lives, whether or not we realize or acknowledge it.
Driving is a risk. The things we ingest, breathe in, are surrounded by on a daily basis can be a risk to our health. Opening up to someone, really loving someone is risky. Raising your hand, speaking up, forming an opinion, standing up for your beliefs- all inherent with risk.
Yet we do them anyway, because somewhere along the line we tried them out and decided that eventho bad things could happen, those are risks worth taking.
The problem is- you never really know if it's going to be worth it unless you try.
We're often so worried about protecting ourselves and those close to us. We don't want to get hurt, feel scared, fall down, screw up, embarrass ourselves, prove the naysayers right.
So, we opt to play it safe, wait for the "right time" to come, keep delaying and pushing away these risky dreams because they seem too big and we're not quite ready to face them yet.
But by not acting, not going for it, not scaring yourself by pursuing things that thrill you and light that spark up within you- that's the biggest risk of all, really.
That is risking your passion, instinct and trust in your own guiding voice.
That's risking never finding what you were truly meant to do in this world, never finding that path that makes you feel alive, whole and happy in a deeper way.
That's risking your todays for a tomorrow that might not come.
So either option is risky, really. You just have to ask yourself, which one is really the BIGGER risk? And which do you think is a risk worth taking?
{This is part of our Truthy Tuesday series over at The Maven Circle, where we openly share our struggles and thoughts around a different topic each week. Join us in getting truthy on your own blog, and we'll link up and spread the love!}
