On being a baller, shot caller 1

The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.

Mark Zuckerberg

I think the word risk is so attractive.

Don’t you?

I remember when my now husband took a big leap and travelled half way across the world to tell me how much he cared. We hadn’t seen each other in 7 years, and it was all a little fairy tale like. It’s a long story and looking back now, it seems like the most natural thing for him to have done. But if you ask him, he would tell you that he had to put aside fear, he had to unpack his past and his failures and his feelings of possible rejection before he got on that aeroplane. It was a big, bold step. Big, bold steps often result in a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes, it may not end in fireworks and parades, but sometimes, it does. It can look like marrying the love of your life at the end of it all.

A risk so often feels like a dance between authenticity and vulnerability, a budding romance that ends in triumph. And triumph doesn’t always necessarily look like winning the war, but crushing the battle of trying.

That’s the thing about risk… It is a guaranteed win. Because even if the task fails, you absolutely win in courage and bravery and fight and just trying. That is still so much better than staying where you were and settling for stagnant.

If Risk were a person, what do you think she would look like? Be like? Talk like?
I think she would be a baller, shot caller. She would be a mover and a shaker and she sure as heck would not be in one place too long. Sometimes, she would be rocking some stretchy pants and high tops, but so confident in herself she could walk into Google HQ and lead a Strategy meeting. She would be ready to leap into adventure at any given moment. And when she felt fear, she would acknowledge it and make something beautiful from it.

Perhaps get a tattoo that said ‘Fear Less’ Other days, she would nestle into her favourite pj’s, while everyone is painting the town red because she knows what she needs is rest. She would show FOMO the back door because she believes in her relationships and prioritises herself.
The risk is so comfortable in her skin that she doesn’t mind trying on an outfit that may look a little too small. She will hustle to make it work, and knows that courage to be who you are, is far more important than fitting in. I want to be like her. A little more risk in my life wouldn’t hurt. It feels like the older I get, the less risky I am. Comfort seeps in and my nesting habits are my go to when I need to feel secure. But why do we look for security in what keeps us complacent? I know that my real sense of security comes from my relationships, my family and my deep friendships and ultimately my faith in God.

So why am I nesting and not flying?

Why am I choosing to find refuge in what I am doing and not what I could be doing, sans fear?

Am I guarded more than I am vulnerable?

Are you?

Let’s walk each a little closer to the edge.

Love,
Ria