Taking Risks

We’ve all been there. We’ve all had moments in our lives where we really, really want something, but we don’t go after what we want. Why? Because the stakes are too high. What if we don’t make it? What if we finally have what we are reaching for right within our grasp, only to fail and have it be painstakingly ripped from our hands?

The fear of the worst possible heartache paralyzes us into giving up what we want most. None of us are immune to heartache, and when it hits, it can pierce our very soul.

I just recently had a situation where I knew what I wanted, and I was all in. I put my very heart and soul into every possible aspect of it that I could. I knew there was a possibility of getting my heart broken and not getting what I wanted, but I took the risk anyway. What I wanted meant so much to me that it was worth the risk of heartache. Doesn’t what I want most deserve that type of effort?

From the sounds of what I just told you, it might be easy to assume that I ended up getting exactly what I wanted. Well, you would be wrong in that assumption. Little by little, I watched as what I had worked so hard for and put so much effort into, what I wanted with every fiber of my being, slowly slip out of reach. I held on for as long as I could, fought with all of my might, but in vain, it would seem. The end result was still the same.

Then the heartache came. Boy, did it come. It was as if my heart was shattered into a million tiny pieces on the ground, and the more pieces I frantically tried to collect and put back together, the more pieces I dropped, creating even tinier pieces than I originally started with. Healing a damaged heart is not an easy process. Even as I am writing this, I am still learning how to move forward and heal from the aftermath of it all.

Knowing what I know now, would I do it all again? Absolutely. Why? Because the truth of the matter is, heartache is going to come into our lives whether we take a risk or not. Sure, it may be a different kind of heartache and perhaps a little less painful, but going after what you want brings meaning and purpose to your life. 

Wouldn’t you rather be able to look back and say that you put in every ounce of energy and effort possible into what you wanted and have the heartache from not getting said thing, than to look back and say that the only heartache you ever experienced was the kind that life threw at you when you had no other choice?

Sure, you may be able to say that you never experienced the worst kind of heartache from lost hopes and dreams. You will also never be able to say that you achieved what you were hoping for either, because you never took the risk of allowing yourself to dream, or go after those dreams, in the first place. Taking a risk and pursuing what you desire teaches you things that nothing else will. It creates your unique sense of character, and you begin to see more clearly the things you want out of life and what matters most to you.

So, the next time you get the chance to go after your hopes and dreams, go after them! I know I will. Because even if it doesn’t end up as I’d like it to, I will have learned invaluable lessons in the process, and I will be able to say that I truly lived.