Taking Risks is Living!

I love taking risks!

Every chance I get I’m either on a plane to some foreign country or jumping out of one hoping my parachute will deploy as planned. When it comes to taking risks with people, I always talk with strangers and have even struck up a couple conversations with the local California hobos.

There are three reasons I love risks.

1. Risks are exciting!

The adrenaline of falling towards earth at terminal velocity can’t be matched. The thrill of chasing a bull through an arena while the crowd cheers you on is like nothing else. Risks lead to peak experiences, and peak experiences are what make life worth living!

2. Risks help us learn!

Without taking risks, you remain the same person year after year after year. Sure, it doesn’t take a lot of risk to work the same dead end job for ten years (oh by the way, the benefits are great!) but you won’t learn a thing after your first six months. It’s only when we take a risk, try something new, and brace for impact that we really learn how the world works.

3. Taking risks is how you find out what you really love to do!

If you never take risks, you’ll be stuck doing the same habits and routines you’ve always relied on. If you never try anything new, you’ll never discover what you really want to achieve. If you never quit your mediocre job you’ll never be able to experiment and search for one you love! If you never risk leaving your current friend circle you’ll never be able to find those amazing people who are out there waiting to meet you. Unless you’re that lucky one in a million, those people and places that you were chanced to start out life with are most likely not those best fit to your unique personality.

Most people think traveling is ‘risky’ and therefore don’t want to do it. Most people think jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is ‘risky’ and therefore will never have that experience.

I see risk differently than most people. I see a world full of experiences waiting to be had. I see countries that need visiting and airplanes that need to be abandoned at 18,000 feet! I see all the friends I have yet to meet, and whom I’ll never meet if I don’t actively search them out.

If I go to a foreign country I may get robbed but I will recoup my losses quickly. If I meet some people who don’t like me I’ll brush it off. These ‘risky’ situations aren’t really as bad as they seem. The benefits of taking these risks, however, can be life changing.

The way I see it, choosing to NOT take a risk is the biggest risk of all.