Risk

"Take risks: If you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise." - unknown.

I have worked a couple of different jobs that have revolved around creating security, and to do so, you must identify what risks are out there, how likely they are to occur, and how serious the impact would be if the risks were realized. At work, risk = likelihood × impact. But when we're talking about a human life, there's another variable that matters: value. Risk, as it pertains to living a meaningful life, is the possibility of experiencing loss, failure, pain, or uncertainty because you chose to pursue something you value.

The central question of a meaningful life isn't: "How can I avoid risk?" It is: "Which risks are worth taking, and which consequences am I willing to bear for the things that matter to me?" Taking a risk means that you have put yourself in a vulnerable situation. Consider a few examples:

• Loving someone creates the risk of rejection, betrayal, grief, or loss. "Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk." - found in the Dalai Lama's 18 rules of life.
• Trying something ambitious creates the risk of failure and embarrassment. "Putting our art out there is one of the biggest risks we can take. It's a special kind of vulnerability. It takes guts to be an artist." - Teresa R. Funke.
• Changing careers creates financial and identity risks. "And then there is the most dangerous risk of all– the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later." - Randy Komisar.
• Writing something you genuinely believe and allowing strangers to read it creates the risk of criticism. "To write something you have to risk making a fool of yourself." - Anne Rice.
• Living according to your principles creates the risk that other people won't approve of your choices. "Sometimes life is about risking everything for a dream no one can see but you." - unknown.

Any time we interact with other people, we are putting ourselves at risk. They do not have to like us, help us, treat us fairly, love us, or care about us at all. This can be especially difficult if, as a child, you approached others with love and trust and assumed they would do the same. Discovering that some people will not can be deeply painful, and those experiences may make vulnerability feel increasingly dangerous. "Trauma survivors often get in the habit of spending a lot of time alone, because alone is safe– relatively, anyway. Alone is controllable. We understand alone. We don't have to stress about alone. People are unpredictable. When we're alone, there's less risk to manage." - unknown.

Unfortunately, many of life's greatest rewards require us to accept some degree of risk. Maybe the people you meet will hurt you, but maybe they will be the greatest thing that ever happened to you. We are not going to make the 'right' decisions all the time. We are going to lose; we are going to experience heartbreak and embarrassment. "Great people do things before they're ready. They do things before they know they can do it. Doing what you're afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that- that is what life is. You might be really good. You might find something about yourself that's really special, and if you're not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself." - Amy Poehler. One of the things you will learn about yourself by taking risks is what type of risk-taker you are. Are you risk-averse? Do you take calculated risks? Are you reckless?

Risk-averse - A risk-averse person places a high value on certainty and protection from loss and therefore tends to choose options with more predictable outcomes, even when accepting uncertainty could produce greater rewards. The danger of becoming too risk-averse is never living. "The world is full of people suffering from the effects of their own unlived life. They become bitter, critical, or rigid, not because the world is cruel to them, but because they have betrayed their own possibilities. The artist who never makes art becomes cynical about those who do. The lover who never risks loving mocks romance. The thinker who never commits to a philosophy sneers at belief itself. And yet, all of them suffer, because deep down they know: the life they mock is the life they were meant to live." - unknown.

Calculated risk- A calculated risk is a conscious decision to accept uncertainty because, after considering both the potential loss and potential gain, you decide the opportunity is worth the exposure. "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out just how far one can go." - T.S. Eliot. There's also an important distinction between a calculated risk and a good outcome. You can make an excellent, carefully reasoned decision and still have things go badly. Likewise, someone can take a foolish risk and get lucky. We often judge decisions retrospectively by their outcomes, but that's not necessarily fair.

Reckless risk - Reckless risk is accepting significant uncertainty or potential harm without giving reasonable consideration to the likelihood and consequences of a bad outcome, or without taking reasonable measures to reduce avoidable risk. "I've reached that age where my brain went from 'You probably shouldn't say that' ...to... 'What the hell, let's see what happens.'" - unknown. The difference between these isn't necessarily how much risk you take, but how you think about the risk before taking it.

How, then, do you distinguish risk that serves something you value from risk that serves no worthwhile purpose? Well, that's the risk you take when making a decision, lol. "If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done." - Ludwig Wittgenstein. Being risk-averse can keep you from living; a calculated risk might still go wrong, and not every avoidable risk is reckless. We routinely accept risks that aren't necessary for survival because they contribute something we value—skiing, traveling, entrepreneurship, falling in love.

If you ask me for life advice, I will most likely tell you to go for it. You should take this advice with a grain of salt. "Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca. That being said: "I think the world often tries to push us in directions that seem 'right' or 'smart'. What I've learned in my journey is that you have to lean into what feels good, you have to take risks, and you have to listen to yourself, even when it's scary." - Marisa Donnelly. I hope that the risks you take are in line with what you value most. 😃

Love and Hope,

Big Sky Baby