Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Risks

Lets talk about risks today.

Do you know everyone of us are actually taking very big risks just by waking up each day, brushing our teeth, eating breakfast and then going to work or to school? You think about it, the mere act of just waking up from your bed by itself a big risk. You risk falling off the bed and breaking your neck as a result. How about brushing your teeth? You risk cutting your mouth and having some unknown weird bacteria entering your system through the cut in the process. Eating breakfast? Thats simple, you risk getting choked by the piece of bread that you ate. Getting out of the house and going to work or to school? Thats even worse, you risk getting killed on the roads, having a pot of plant dropping on you, or slipping and falling down the stairs and breaking your neck. The moment you open your eyes every morning, you risk getting yourself hurt or even killed in some freak accidents.

My point being?

The fact is, everyone of us are risk takers. The moment we were forced out of our mother's wombs, we were already taking a very big risk, the risk of getting killed soon after we screamed our first cry. Has anyone thought of this before? Throughout our lifetime, we are constantly taking risks in the choices that we made although some risks are so minute that we do not even give it a second thought. Would you even think that you are in fact taking a big risk when you are brushing your teeth? I doubt so.

If all of us already have the courage to take risks in every moment that we are living, then why is it that most, if not all of us do not have the necessary courage to face our problems with the bravery that we displayed when we are taking the risk that we take everyday? That by itself is actually a very ironic occurrence. We have an inate courage which we are relying on everyday and yet we are not able to see it ourself. Perhaps its because most of us have no idea how brave we are and as a result do not have the confidence to face our problems. In the end, some prefer to hide and run from our problems. I admit I do.

Perhaps its because hiding and running away does provide a temporary sense of security. There is this illusion that you do not need to worry about the looming problem on hand. How sad and ironic! We are wasting the in-born courage that we have to tackle our problems and choose instead to be comforted by a false sense of security.

Maybe its time everyone of us just sit back and think about the things that we do each day, the kind of risks that we are taking each day and praise ourselves for the courage that we show when we are taking these risks. God knows that self-encouragement is sorely lacking these days! Perhaps it is when we are truly able to see and feel the courage that we have deep down inside us, the risks that we are actually taking every moment and our problems will not appear to be suffocating us at all, no matter how big and terrible they are.

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