Tag Archives: take a chance

Do IT Afraid

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“Fear is a funny thing. We need it to keep us safe. If there is something real that is threatening our life, we need to be afraid so that we can adjust accordingly to protect ourselves. The problem isn’t being afraid. It’s letting fear get out of hand and control our lives when there is only something we perceive as frightening. Sometimes that means we end up being afraid of nothing more than a paper tiger”

I read this recently in Captiva Memories” by Anne Cabot and it made me think.  How many things have we decided not to do because we were afraid?

And how many times have we regretted it? Wondered what would’ve happened if we’d taken that chance?

But we didn’t because we were afraid. We didn’t believe in ourselves, even though everyone else did. So we didn’t  take the chance, because that paper tiger growled too loud, and that mouthful of sharp teeth scared us away.

But someone else wasn’t intimidated by that same paper tiger, and took the chance. And they were very successful. 

You’re offered a great opportunity to buy a business that’s already successful. You know it’s a great deal and you’re seriously considering it. But all of a sudden that paper tiger runs up to you, growls, and tries to swat you with that big paw!

And again you’re too scared to take the chance.

But then you come across another opportunity, and instead of waiting for that paper tiger to appear, you sign on the dotted line, and go for it! You’re still afraid, but this time there’s no turning back. The paper tiger slinks into the room, but this time you swat it away, and discover it really is made of paper after all. And it can’t hurt you.

You were afraid for no reason! You had it in you all the time. You just didn’t realize it.

And suddenly, you aren’t afraid of that paper tiger any more, because you discovered those claws couldn’t scratch and those teeth couldn’t bite. You were too busy letting your fear get the best of you instead of believing in yourself. This time you did it afraid. 

And you succeeded.

Life is a Risk Worth Taking

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If you don’t take risks, you’ll never really live, you know. At least not life to the fullest.

There are all kinds of risks. They don’t necessarily have to be dangerous.

It’s risky to leave a job and start another where you’ve been comfortable for so long. You know everyone and know exactly what you’re doing, but you’re not getting ahead in your career. And you think you’ve now found the perfect job. More money. More responsibility. And already a step up from where you are now. 

But still, it’s new. You’re starting over, sort of. You don’t know anyone there. Will you be accepted? Or feel out of place? What if you don’t like it? Because there’s no going back.

But what if you do, and it turns out to be everything you’ve wanted?

It’s risky to move from where you’ve been renting for quite awhile and become a homeowner. 

It’s also risky to sell your home in one city and move to another one in a new city where you don’t know anyone.

And it’s really risky to take that leap

of faith to quit your job and start up your own business, knowing you only have about three months’ worth of savings to fall back on if it doesn’t work.

It’s risky to finally decide to make a break from a bad relationship, either a long term dating situation or an unhappy marriage. Because you don’t know how hard it’ll be to start over. And if it was an abusive relationship, you don’t know whether he/she will try to come after you.

There’s also a risk in agreeing to certain surgeries, whether elective or not, because there are always certain kinds of complications in any surgical procedure.

These are the serious risks. But there are hundreds of risks we all take in any given year. Maybe even more. 

Because if we don’t take some kind of risk almost every day, we don’t grow. We stay in the same place, not moving ahead in life, and sometimes even going backwards. 

Now I could mention risks like skydiving or white water rafting, both of which would be huge risks as far as I’m concerned, but those aren’t the risks we’re talking about here. I’m talking decisions we’re called upon to make every single day that can affect our lives, and we don’t really think about them. Maybe I should call them opportunities, or choices, instead of risks, because that’s really what they are.

Without taking a chance on something in life you aren’t going to go forward. Do you want to be in the same place next month you are today?  Or are you going to see what else is out there for you?

And you’ll never know unless you make a decision to take a risk. Because that’s what life is all about.

Whatever You Want to Do

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Do it.

Because there are only so many tomorrows. Like that saying don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

What if tomorrow doesn’t come!

One day it won’t, you know.

Then you’ll be in the land of regents and not know how you got there. And it’ll be too late.

Is there someone you want to tell something but you don’t think you’re ready? Don’t put it off because you might not be able to tomorrow.

Is there some place you want to visit but keep putting it off? Tomorrow may be too late.

Whatever you want to do, do it. Make plans and just do it.

If you don’t do it now, you might not get another chance.

Think About Taking That Chance

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Because most likely it won’t come around again. At least not in the same form.

Some things only happen once. If you don’t reach out and grab it, most likely it’s gone forever.

And you’ll be left always asking yourself…”what if…?”

And that’s a question none of us can really truly answer. Because we can’t know what we have no way of knowing.

You’ve Been Given a Full Box of New Crayons

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But if the beautiful picture you were born to create is going to happen, you have to open the box and start to color.

You look at those crayons. So new. So colorful. Sharp and unbroken, their paper wrapping still fresh and new. And you realize if you begin to use them, they won’t look like that for long.

So you put them away to save for a special time. When you really feel creative. When what you create will be worth messing up those beautifully sharpened crayons. You pull the box out occasionally and wonder “am I ready to use these to try and create something really special, really breathtaking?” You even pull out a fresh clean piece of paper and almost touch the point of the crayon to the paper.

And then you stop. What if you mess up your creation? What if it’s going well and suddenly you mess up? So many of those beautiful crayons would now messed up, used, their points no longer sharp, and their paper wrappers torn. You’re upset because you’ve now taken something of beauty and messed it up, and now those once beautiful crayons don’t look capable of creating anything any more.

You feel bad and can’t even bear to look at the mess you’ve made. Throwing them away seems unfair because it’s not their fault you couldn’t use them correctly. What to do?

So you decide to give them away. Maybe someone else can salvage them and use them for something, and you can at least you won’t be reminded of your failure. You put them in a box, mark “free” on it, and leave them in your yard, hoping they won’t be left behind for long.

The next morning they’re gone. You feel guilty but you just can’t be reminded how you failed and messed them up. And you’re not going to try that again!

But a month or so later, when you open your front door, there’s a beautifully wrapped package sitting there, the tag reading simply “thank you. Open when you’re ready.”

What in the world? You haven’t done anything special for awhile, at least not that you’re aware of. This must be for someone else.

But after a few hours of looking at that package, you can’t stand it any more. You have to know what’s inside; maybe you’ll find out where it came from, so you can properly thank them.

As you’re unwrapping it you take a close look at the colorful wrapping paper. It seems to be a rainbow of fine colored swirls, all carefully mixed together to form a beautiful pattern. It’s too pretty to tear up, so you carefully unwrap it so that the paper can be re-used.

Inside, you find a sketchbook, filled with colorful hand drawn pictures. Turning the pages you find seascapes, florals, even portraits that resemble people you know. At the end of the book there’s an inscription that reads “don’t be afraid to use your crayons. Just because they get broken, lose their points, and don’t always look perfect, they can still be used to make wonderful, beautiful pictures.”

And at the bottom of the box were several crayons, the few small pieces that were left from the whole crayons that had been used by the artist to make the beautiful pictures in the sketchbook.

Those were the crayons she’d given away, of course. Or what was left of them.

What do you think that person did next? Use the leftover pieces to draw more pictures? Buy new crayons that would actually be used to draw more pictures? Or continue to be discouraged because someone else did something with what they were given while he/she threw away the opportunity?

What would you have done?