ozman1865's blog: "risk or not risk"

There is a risk involved in everything Every time you share a smile Every time you shed a tear You are opening yourself up to hurt. Some people tread slowly through life, Avoiding the closeness risk brings, Sidestepping the things they can not understand Turning away from those who care too much- Those who care stay too long, Those who hold too tightly. There is never an easy way to love You cannot approach it cautiously It will not wait for you to arm yourself. It does not care if you turn away It is everywhere, it is everything. Love is the greatest of all risks. It is not reliable, it is not cautious, It is not sympathetic It is unprejudiced and unmerciful. It strikes the strongest of mind, And brings them to their knees in one blow. Even in the best of times, love hurts. It hurts to need, it hurts to belong, It hurts to be the other part of someone else, Without either of your consent. But, from the moment it overtakes you, It hurts worse to be all alone. The risk of love never depletes; It grows stronger and more dangerous with time. But, it is in the total surrender of all defense, That we, no matter weak or strong, No matter willing or captive, No matter what, we truly experience love. Despite the many things love is not, Outweighing it all are the things that love is. Love is surrender without a loss. It is a gift without the cost. It consumes your every thought and desire, Every breath you take. It is the fire that fuels you To do more than pass through life; It urges you, instead, to live. No matter the outcome, having felt love, You will never be the same. It may scar your heart and soul And leave you only memories of forever. Or, it may cause every day of your life To feel like there is no need for tomorrow. But, love is worth it. It is worth the risk...

"Life is a risk." -- Diane von Fürstenberg At different points of our life, we often find ourselves at a stage where we have to take very important decisions, decisions that could and almost always affect the rest of our lives, and maybe even the lives of those depending on us; to add to the stress of that, every decision comes with its own set of risks, and possibilities of things going right or wrong. All that makes these stages and the decisions we have to take even harder for us. A lot of people decide to play it safe, and take a zero-risk approach, sometimes even by not doing anything at all, letting life take the decisions for them and steer their fate. The problem is that by not taking risks or by not doing anything, you might not lose anything, but there's no way you're going to win anything either, which is an even bigger risk in itself. "If you don't risk anything you risk even more." -- Erica Jong "The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all." -- Jawaharlal Nehru I guess the whole approach a person should take to life and its decisions is to try to calculate and limit the risk, but not eliminate taking risks and chances altogether. A person should weigh all the options available and what results those options could have, and then decide on how much risk they're willing to take in correspondence with the level of certainty of the results. "Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash." -- George S. Patton Life is full of risks, and it's not easy, generous nor fair; Life only gives to those who take their chances, persist and work hard. "The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf." -- Shakti Gawain Words are easy, but when a person is in a position where much of his future depends on this one decision and how much risk he's willing to take on it, it's a whole other ball game, by nature many of us are tempted to go for the safest route. What we have to do is ask ourselves, is it really the safest? Am I not risking to lose my chances by not taking them? Am I not risking to throw my life away by not doing anything? Am I not risking to live a life I don't want just because I didn't have the guts to grab the life I want?

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out to others is to risk involvement. To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to do nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave, they forfeited their freedom. Only the person who risks can be free