‘If’ is Risk’s Purgatory

“Risk comes in all shapes and colors: bankruptcy, heartbreak, failure.  The alternative is a world without risk, without color, without knowing if you could have made that business work, if she would have truly loved you, if you would have finished that race or project or garden or painting or triathlon or… whatever.  If, in other words, is risk’s purgatory.  I know I don’t want to spend any time there.”  Georges St. Pierre

Don’t we all have these ‘ifs’ buried deep in our memories?

I have a business I tried to start.  I know I didn’t give it my best.  I was too afraid.  Every now and again I pull it from my memory vault, polish it up, and wonder could I have made it work?  Did I blow my only shot?

What IF?

In The Magician’s Nephew, the first of the Chronicles of Narnia, Polly and Digory come across a bell with this inscription:

“Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;

strike the bell and bide the danger,

Or wonder, till it drives you mad,

What would have followed if you had.”

“What if” is the purgatory of risk, as St. Pierre said.  If we, because of a lack of courage, take the easy road, we get to live with nothing but ‘ifs’ for the rest of our lives.  We live in a vaguely comfortable world without danger, but we become “cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat” (Theodore Roosevelt).

It breaks my heart to see so many ‘cold and timid souls’ among my peers.  They’re too scared to commit to a relationship.  They’re scared to quit their job and go to school.  They’re scared to move out of their parent’s place.

Because what IF it doesn’t work out?

What if it does?

No joke: the world is a big scary place.  I’ve got to acknowledge that not all risks are worth taking.  The Georges St. Pierre quote comes after an explanation of his calculated risk.  In Narnia, Polly and Digory awake a wicked witch when they strike inscripted bell.  In other words, I’m not advocating ‘YOLO’ (though a little of that spontaneous spirit is a good thing for homebodies like me).

I’m reminding myself that fear is inevitable, but I need to look past the fear, or the complacency, or the discomfort, and make a calculated choice.  Then, when ‘if’ comes calling, I can at least say “it wasn’t worth it” not, “I should have tried.”

It may be as small as engaging your new coworker in conversation, even if his accent is difficult to understand.  That’s my adventure this week.

 

Do Reading Habits Correlate to Income?

“The most successful CEOs are reported to read an average of 60 books and attend more than six conferences a year–whereas the average American worker reads an average of less than one book and makes 319 times less income.

Although the media often discusses the disparity between the rich and the poor, they frequently fail to cover the amount of time and energy the wealthy have commited to reading, studying and educating themselves…

The most successful people I know read everything they can get their hands on.  They approach a $30 book as though it has the potential to make them a million dollars.  They see every opportunity to train and educate themselves as the most solid and sure investment they can make”

–Grant Cardone, as quoted by Chris Brady in Turn the Page: How to Read Like a Top Leader.

Agree or disagree?

My own opinion?  I’m no CEO.  I would fall into the average to poor income bracket.  But I’m pretty young, and don’t expect my education to pay off for a while.  I consider my hunger to read and learn my biggest advantage over my peers.  The path I’ve chosen is unlikely to bring me a huge income or great power, but at least I’m accelerating toward my own definition of success–a journey which is fulfilling in itself. Reading has improved my relationships, my finances and my faith.  Thus, I’m a huge proponent of reading.  Which would be why I’m reading a book about reading… go figure, eh?