AWaciutaPicOftentimes, when we are put in difficult situations, our minds convince us that it is best to simply take the easy way out. We have the power to convince ourselves that taking any sort of risk is not worth the extra stress and pressure that we would have to face as a result. We often choose to sit back and avoid the situation instead of moving forward and taking action. I, myself, am guilty of this and have been in many situations in my life where I decided that taking a risk was simply not worth the possible consequences.

The risks that we are faced with don’t always have to be tremendous and life changing, but they do often instill some sort fear within us. We often analyze everything that can possibly happen as a result of taking a risk, which turns us off from making the actual decision. When faced with some sort of risk, I generally tend to focus more on what might go wrong rather than what might go right. However, I forget to keep in mind that there is usually a great chance that the result will be positive. This has personally become one of my biggest setbacks. Overthinking the situation is one of my biggest weaknesses and can easily turn me off from pushing myself to be more spontaneous.

Recently, I have been trying to ask myself this question. If we don’t take risks will we ever know what the outcomes could have been?

FailureSuccessThe answer to that is probably no. If we opt out of moving forward to accomplish some type of goal that requires a risk, we will often never know what could have been. In many cases, this is a downfall because some of the best decisions that we make in our lives come from risks that we may be faced with taking. The fear of heading off into uncharted territory is what holds us back, and in certain situations we must learn how to overcome this.

Taking risks can lead to a variety of great outcomes as I have already mentioned. They can lead us to explore talents that we never knew we had and can make us feel more accomplished and powerful. They allow us to discover new things and give us the opportunity to conquer our fears. By being afraid of taking the next steps, we never really know on what we are missing out. I have learned this the hard way in the past, as I have often been reserved and never really willing to reach out of my comfort zone. I am hoping that in the future I can gather more courage and be more confident in my knowledge and abilities so that I can learn the appropriate times to take risks and enjoy what comes out of them. All in all, I would say that taking a risk is worth it. If the results turn out to be positive, then we grow as humans and if they do not work in our favor, then we learn from our mistakes.