risk

[undergroundpanther]

Risking

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk.

To Love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope it to risk despair.

To try it to risk failure.

But, risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing at all.

The person who risks nothing still does not avoid suffering and sorrow because suffering and sorrow are an unavoidable part of life.

What they avoid by not taking risks it the opportunity to learn, feel, change, grow, Love, live.

Chained by their certitudes, they are a slave. The have forfeited their freedom.

Only a person who risks is free.
Original Source Unknown


Next time you are angry at this administration,this confederacy of dunces remember this poem. It might help you get through the crap,or break out of the trance of learned helplessness pervading our culture right now, pushing us to"look for leaders" to take away the responsibility we have to lead ourselves,or break the illusions that keep us sitting in stagnation,when we know what we need, afraid to act in our own interests..
Just my $.2 for the day...

[KlatooBNikto]

1. Good post,undergroundpanther! You may like what Muhammad Ali said

once: A man who thinks the same way at 40 that he did at 20 has just wasted twenty years of his life.And talk of taking risks! That man did more than any one in our generation.

[pnutchuck]

2. Perfect timing!

I've been "risking" everything to be an artist here in Paris for almost 2 yrs now. It's been incredibly difficult and I've considered throwing in the towel. I'm going back home to San Diego tomorrow and wasn't thinking about coming back or even continuing there. Your post is a good reminder that true success is not measured by how much money you make or how famous you are, but by how hard you tried. Success cannot be achieved without failures. Thanks for this, I can't tell you how perfect the timing is.

:yourock:

[Swamp Rat]

3. "Risking" my whole life got me lots of broken bones...

But it sure has been fun! :D