Friday, November 4, 2011

Taking Risks

Day 290 -   I want to quote a poem I found few days ago. The author is unknown:

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out is to risk involvement.
To expose feeling is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before the crowd is to risk their love.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The one who risks nothing does nothing and has nothing – and finally is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow or love.
Chained by his certitude, he is a slave; he has fortified freedom.
Only one who risks is free.

I am learning to take risks. One thing I learned in the past year is to expose my feelings. I used to hold it so close to my heart, but I learned that I buried part of me when I buried my feelings, and my thoughts and this is what I am working on every single day. I learn to say I am upset, to say I am afraid, to say I want and I need and I love; and  I teach myself to disconnect from the outcome. Only then, when you are not expecting an action in return you are free. I can say I am upset and I don’t expect anyone to fix it. I can say I love and I don’t expect to be loved in return, I can say I need but I don’t expect someone to make it happen. It gives such a high degree of freedom, to simply express my feelings. It is for me to say not for you to react.
   
I am thankful I am learning to take risks; for years I brought less than the whole of me to the game and now, I am totally in the moment, right there. I am thankful to life’s trials and I hope that being a warrior and not giving up when the going gets tough will make me stronger will make my life better. And as much as I am striving to be strong and being able to let go, I will be eternally thankful if my dreams will come true.

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