“There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.”
— John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

I have been thinking a lot about risks these past few days. What is a risk? Well the dictionary defines it as: 1. The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger. 2. A factor, thing, element, or course involving uncertain danger; a hazard. So with this in mind the question is, is it better to take risks or not take risks in life?

The more I think about it the more I come up with the same answer — life is about taking risks for things that you value and are passionate about and learning from the experience no matter what the outcome. You can look back in history to find many references to the value of taking risks. Somewhere between 484 BC and 430 BC Herodotus stated that “Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.”

So when it comes to your life, what is holding you back from taking risks? Someone mentioned to me the other day that they didn’t want to waste their time putting all their effort into a risk only for it to potentially fail in the end. Well, first of all, that’s what a risk is all about — “the possibility of suffering harm or loss”. And secondly, isn’t it also a waste of time to not take the risk if it involves potentially getting you that much closer to obtaining your goals in life?

Philip Adams put it well when he said, “It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever.”

Let me leave you to ponder what you should do with taking risks in your life with these final quotes: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” (Anais Nin 1903-1977), and “The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf.” (Shakti Gawain).