You’ve probably heard the saying before “the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.” But somewhere along the way through this journey called life we start to become risk averse. We get to the point where we start to “play it safe.” But, you might want to ask yourself this. How much of your life are you missing out on because you won’t take a risk?
The Risk: Every single time I paddle out I head out to surf I know that I’m taking a risk. As the waves get bigger, the risk goes up. I could wipe out, I could injure myself or any number of things could happen. One of the stupidest things we do as human beings and we do it as a matter of habit before we do anything that kind of freaks us out is ask ourselves “what’s the worst that could happen?” Since our brain only knows how to answer questions quite literally, that will actually result in creating some completely fu#$#d up pictures in our head that eventually cause us not to take the risk. But on the flip side, there’s another question you could be asking yourself: “What’s the Best That Could Happen.” Imagine the possibilities when you ask yourself that and it’s likely you’ll start to feel like taking a risk more often.
The Reward: Anytime a wave is coming behind me that looks fairly big, I have this “oh shi#$#” moment. That lasts about 2 seconds. I’ve gotten to the point where I understand that the reward is going to trump the risk almost EVERY SINGLE TIME. Once you understand that, you can’t help but go for it.
Bliss: Once that slight moment of fear coming down the face of wave is over, you are sent into such a state of zen like bliss that you can’t help but want to do it over and over and over until you feel like your arms are going to fall off. Even then you somehow manage to paddle back out because it’s so good you keep telling yourself “one last wave and then I’ll go.”
Most of the things in life we are scared to go for are pretty similar. There’s a little bit of risk, but on the other side of the mountain is reward and bliss. So, my advice to you is when your waves comes, just go for it. After all, what’s the best best that could happen?
Oh my yes! I had this exact experience the first time I really "opened up" my horse on the trail. I'd never galloped before, but we were so in tune, and following the rider ahead who had no fear and for whom galloping was a matter of course.
My steady, stable, completely trustworthy mare stretched out, lengthening her stride as she picked up speed. I felt the adrenaline rise—my mind went "OHSH#T!!!" and I almost gave into the reflex to pull her up—but I knew I could trust her with my life. In that moment, I chose to stay with it and gave over to trust (BIG moment for me).
I breathed through the "ohsh#t" moment as it rose, then peaked, almost like panic but then... it faded away into the most divine feeling of exhilaration I've ever experienced. And for the first time in my life, I knew what it was to FLY.
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