Risking Growth

When a person has anxiety, they often can also be described as risk adverse. They don’t want to risk shame, embarrassment, loss, or losing out. However, risk is important. Here, Mike Caro describes that idea: "Every conscious act requires risk. Every conscious act requires decision. Put these two facts together and you realize that the secret to life is not to avoid gambling but to gamble well." What he means is that life will always carry a lot of unknowns. When there are so many factors outside of your control, much of living life is taking a risk. But what kind of life can you live if you avoid risk? You’d have very little to make life enjoyable if you don’t occasionally put yourself out there. So like Mike Caro was saying, the way to “win” at life isn’t to avoid taking those risks, but to accurately assess your odds, and to decide what is worth gambling. I’ll add to that by saying that it is important to consider the rewards you could earn by risking. Not all rewards are easy to see. Like life lessons, chaotic memories to laugh about later in life, and personal growth are very hard to consider good when you are also assessing for risk. We often want to avoid the hardships that thrust us towards self-improvement, because we feel vulnerable and, at some level, we aren’t ready for it, because we are forced to become the person able to handle the challenge before us. In viewing life’s gambles this way, perhaps you’d be less risk adverse when you see “losses” as worthy of your time - when every experience is one for growth, then the real loss is deciding to not risk anything at all.

"Every conscious act requires risk. Every conscious act requires decision. Put these two facts together and you realize that the secret to life is not to avoid gambling but to gamble well."

~ Mike Caro