I left you on the last post with an ending, purposely written to stir your mind over the coming days! Why are so many of us destined to go through our entire lives in a condition of self-imposed disappointment, simply because we are unable, or unwilling, to take meaningful risks? This question seems difficult to answer, but just as we thought back to our time at the swimming pool a few posts ago, we only need to think back to our formative years to recognize where this reluctance to engage in risk-taking behavior has its source.
When you were an infant, your parents desperately wanted to see you succeed. They were terrified by the prospect that you might fall short of their expectations. Did you catch that? Stay with me now…this was and still is perfectly natural, in light of the fact that they loved you dearly. The unfortunate side is that it motivated them to shelter you from every potential harm which might come up in your life. For example, when you first started to walk, they were right by your side and as soon as you even looked like you were going to stumble, they grabbed onto you, so you would not fall and hurt yourself.
If your upbringing was typical, your first bicycle ride was probably wrought with repeated warnings such as: “be careful,” “don’t fall,” “watch out,” and so on, What your parents did not realize was that they were slowly but surely “programming you” to be cautious in every future move in your life. Because they dearly loved you, it was as if they had planted a brilliant caution light burning brightly on the screen of your impressionable young mind.
Regardless of what anyone may have told you to the contrary, none of us was ever “born” with a fear of taking risks. It is a myth to think that human beings– if left to his or her own devices–is just “naturally’ programmed to follow the path which will eventually lead to greatness in his or her own life.
You might be thinking at this point that I’m advocating irresponsible behavior and acting foolishly. Not the case at all! Becoming a risk-taker means to act courageously, and to act courageously is considerably different from acting foolishly (which is how a person acts when he or she behaves in an irresponsible manner).
The line between risk-taking and being foolish can become very narrow, but is also a relative comparison at best. In other words, behavior which represents a risk to one person may not necessarily represent a risk to another person. To one person, becoming a full-time Workamper may not represent a risk, but to another it is fool hardy!
No one said this was easy! If it were, everyone would be doing it! Just keep that in mind as you continue your study and keep your eye on your dreams!
Until next time…
Steve Anderson
Dream Engineer
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