Why are so often afraid of taking CHANCES? I am not speaking of those people who do nothing else BUT take them, risking everything all the time or adrenaline junkies. I am talking about regular average everyday people (like me) that miss out on amazing chances because they do not dare to take that leap of faith.
“We all need to decide whether to ‘play it safe’ in life and worry about the downside, or instead take a chance, by being who we really are and living the life our heart desires. Which choice are you making?” – Charlie Badenhop
I have taken a lot of chances in my life, and believe me when I tell you that many of these left me heartbroken, crushed, frustrated, sad, humiliated and some even downright depressed. Do I regret having taken those chances? NEVER! There were also many chances I have taken that payed off and enriched my life in amazing ways. Taking a chance is always an investment. Only I don’t mean the investment in stock, in a company or anything like that. The investment I am speaking about is the investment in people, taking a chance with them to get chances but also to give them.
I once fell in love with the wrong man (or perhaps the right man at the wrong time) and all I ever longed for was that one CHANCE to see where it could lead us, if we could be something together. I never got that chance and this is one of the biggest regrets of my life. Not talking chances is cause for the nagging “WHAT IF’S” and these are terrible because they haunt you, sometimes for the rest of your life. Sometimes Love just isn’t enough!
“The roller-coaster is my life; life is a fast, dizzying game; life is a parachute jump; it’s taking chances, falling over and getting up again; it’s mountaineering; it’s wanting to get to the very top of yourself and feeling angry and dissatisfied when you don’t manage it.” – Paolo Coelho
And even if it did not work out in the end, I still took a huge chance, that leap of faith anyway and lost, without regretting any of it for a single moment. That chance brought me some of the most wonderful experiences and memories of my life and the worst heartaches ever. Was it worth it? HELL YES! Would I do it again? I am not sure, but probably, YES!
When taking a chance and investing in people we always take a high risk. We never know if we will get a ROI (return on investment), we never know when a crash may come where we could lose everything. I have no clue about stock markets but I believe, or rather guess investing in people is a bit like investing in stock. I know some people invest in companies because they like a product or even just the name and this can go horribly wrong and you could lose everything. This can be compared with investing in a person that has nothing to offer except she/he is incredibly good looking without any other substance like a brain. If their IQ is just above room temperature, you will most likely not get a ROI (of course depending on what you expect). But I think you get what I am trying to say.
At some point of our lives we begin to realise that more years lie behind than ahead of us (in my case that is most certainly true unless medicine makes some spectacular advancements…) and we don’t or we should not miss out. I am not speaking about some midlife-crisis and buying a sports car or getting a boob job etc. I am talking about dealing with us and our lives carefully and prudently, about seizing the chances that present themselves to us and also taking one or the other risk, even at the risk of being hurt. It makes life so much more colorful and worth living, don’t you think?
I can only speak for myself but I most cerainly prefer to take a chance and risk being hurt and suffering than having my life pass me by feeling little to nothing…