ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS IS FREE
by Author Unknown
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach for another is to risk involvement.
To expose 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 believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the
greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The people who risk nothing, do nothing,
have nothing, are nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes they are slaves;
they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
I have to laugh at myself. I was looking through archives of my blog and found a piece I had written a few years ago about how change is evil. Fast forward to present-day and I am advocating taking risks.
But. This is a good thing. I have (hopefully) changed and grown as a person and so my opinions have evolved. In the last year or so, I have consciously decided to get out of my comfort zone. I have signed up for things which have scared me or made me feel uncomfortable. Some of the risks have been successful and some have not. But every single one has been a learning experience. Even a risk that has resulted in failure has still produced new understanding and knowledge. But, if you risk nothing, you gain nothing.
