Risk, The Fertilizer For Life

Aloha! "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."  ~Anais Nin

Sometimes the very thing that you want to do is the scariest thing of all.  That is how you know it is necessary.  If you feel trepidation, if you feel like you could fall flat, if you feel like your heart could be broken it is worth doing.  If you feel like you might not get another shot, if you feel like you have something to lose, if you feel like you need a drink to get it done, you need to do it (not drink, but the thing that scares you :)  We tend toward what we know way too often.  We repeat what is comfortable every single day.  How often do you push past your limits?  How often do you jump before calculating how high, far and fast you must go?  When was the last time you did something for the first time?  When was the last time you leapt before you looked?

I am no thrill seeker.  I don't jump out of airplanes or do X-Game type things, but I will push myself beyond what is comfortable on a regular basis, yet, there are still those things that get me all jittery and nervous.  I am still shy in certain situations and afraid of what I don't want happening, happening.  I am human.  However, that feeling of not wanting to put myself out there is the information I need to put myself out there.  As a fitness instructor I spend a lot of time putting myself out there.  However, it is a comfortable spot to be in when I teach the formats that I know.  It is a rare day where I am teaching and I am not prepared.  The last time this occurred was over a year ago when I was asked to teach Kick Boxing.  Not only am I not a Kick Boxing instructor, I don't have any routines memorized.  Choreography isn't my strong suit.  So I said, "Yes."  I prepared as best I could.  I went in, taught one of the technically worst Kick Boxing classes that existed, but I had fun and I put my all into it.  After it was done I felt so relieved and pumped.  I had done it and it had scared the hell out of me.  And I survived.

"If you don't risk anything, you risk even more."  ~Erica Jong

I believe that we need to go after something that isn't a sure thing.  I believe we need to it with heart, chutzpa, and our eyes open.  I believe we can all learn how to receive so much more life if we live it instead of planning for it to be over.  We get to the end before we actually have read past the beginning.  We decide something isn't worth the risk because we are afraid of pain and joy.  We are afraid of being let down.  We are afraid of failure.  No one failed when they risked it all.  They gain so much, so very much.

"If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary."  ~Jim Rohn

xo

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