The sun sets on another day…
Tonight was a fantastic sunset and as I worked on the yard I felt at peace watching the colors change in the sky. I was at once enamored and elated at how great it was to see the sailboats floating floating through the shimmering light above. I took a second and watched the sail puff out I felt the gusts of wind that they must be feeling on the lake. It felt good.
There are so many phrases coined in the world that you could put a new one up everyday and never worry about repeating. Some of them repeat a similar sentiment some of them are very prophetic and to be honest many are lame and meaningless and only there for someone to stroke their own ego or to act like they came up with an amazing idea. That kind of didn’t work very well. Sorry it almost seems negative. It is important though for me to know that all of those thoughts and all of those great ideas were made by men, or women, made their statements based on their knowledge of the world and their experiences. That is why what I said before makes sense to me. Some statements will not make sense unless you’ve experienced similar. And honestly it is probable that every great quote has some meaning if you have had a similar experience. I know I know this is a little too much background and a little too much rambling. As I worked and watch the sunset I thought about this great thing called risk.
There are massive books about risk. There are huge positions in companies concerning risk. There are risk analysis risk at version and so many more things that deal with risk. There is even a game called risk but it doesn’t really apply here. I was thinking about a movie that use the statement coined to a British military force about risk. It got me into a series of thoughts about how people risk succeed and succeed.
There will be people who write to me and say you meant succeed and fail. I did not. When it comes to risk and when it comes to living life taking a risk is always a chance at success or success. Some people say what if you fail. Those people have not considered that even in failure we succeed. Let me restate that even in failure we succeed. Taking a risk can be scary but the only thing that scares us is what we have been programmed to think.
Why is it that we focus so much on the aspect of failure that we are unwilling to realize the successes of risk? There are dozens if not hundreds if not thousands of reasons to not do certain things. All of these reasons are only valid if we do not see the other side, that potential for success.
So I have a friend, well not just one but this one is pretty much the friend that is a friend, I’ll let you figure that out. So I have a friend and he and his wife took one of the greatest risks that people can take. These two people left behind stability, income, other people, and basically everything they had ever know to live a dream. Not only that, but these two people risked all of the money they have saved and everything that they were was on the line. They took this risk to open a small business and it was in that risk they redefined the world around them.
You have to really understand how big this risk is. By making the decisions that they made not only did they risk their finances but they also risked themselves. They were no longer associated with the professional area they started in and I have found it challenging over the years as even small gaps in a person’s work history can be questioned. There was also the fact they worked in technology which changes each day and as you look upon it you quickly can lose perspective and current knowledge if you are not engaged consistently. They also created a bubble where their dedication 2 their Newfound goal was not so understood by others. All in all if they had truly considered all of the elements of the risk they probably would have run screaming. Fortunately they did not.
So you had two possible outcomes. Actually you had dozens of possible outcomes but I’m just going to talk about 2. The first outcome is that they would succeed and their new business would do well they would be able to recover all of their investment and a lot more. The second outcome if they would fail and in the process lose everything. As I finished and looked at the evening sky I thought about my friend and realized that the second part was not failure. Like me, my friend has been in a situation where he had little and perhaps nothing. He had seen that complete loss where there was no magic balloon to fall back on, no pillow full of cash to retire with, and still he had survived. It is in that that I feel we do not teach our children the benefits of failure. It is in that that I feel we lose the concept of the success of starting over.
So if we look at it again there was a possibility of success in that as they succeeded they could replace all that they invested and more and as they “succeeded” they could learn a tremendous lesson and start over with a zero slate. It is in that that you see a success and a “success” because risk becomes a pathway to success not just if it the outcome was positive but even if it was negative.
For those of you reading the first time you may know I have written four novels now. Where others would have scoffed and asked why these two people encouraged me and said why not. I too have two paths of success and success. I can continue to write novels and perhaps achieve success from readers who like my characters and plots. I could also write more novels and have no readers but I would still have the satisfaction of completing those novels and knowing I had achieved something. After all achieving something means something.
So what are your cornerstone risks that keep you from living life the way it could be lived? Will you be that person who pushes the envelope and is not afraid of taking risk or will you be that person who takes the easy path and doesn’t consider risk as being worthwhile? It seems like an easy question, but if you start thinking about it there is a lot to it.
So as the sun sets on another day, I was looking at the sunset and listening to all of the things my mind’s eye was telling me. Of the many people in my life I appreciate those who have taken a risk and made it into a success even if the outcome was not as successful as planned. I appreciate those people who took that step to make the world more. I appreciate those people who do not see failure as anything less then a different type of success and mostly I appreciate everyone who reads, it helps make the world a better place. Thank you for your success and thank you for taking the world to a new level no matter what.
Sleep sweet, risk it all, and succeed…