NdukuOutLoud

What’s the biggest risk you’d like to take — but haven’t been able to?

The Risk of Being Ourselves.

A question that invites a list. A bucket list. A wish list. A catalog of goals and plans I have shelved for someday. But before I could list, I remembered something a random guy said on a random podcast on a random Wednesday afternoon:

“You’re already doing everything you want to do.”

I was taken aback. Offended, even. What do you mean I’m already doing what I wan to do. Where does that leave the dreams I’ve deferred. The plans I’ve postponed? Are you suggesting I don’t really want to quit my job and start over in a foreign country? That my desire to work out and get abs is just a passing thought? That I never truly wanted them?

Maybe the guy was out of us depth. Or maybe he was right.

Do I genuinely want to switch careers-or am I looking for an excuse not to give my best to this one/

Why do I say I want love when I’m not willing to make the connections necessary to meet somebody I can build with?

Have I even researched Croatia enough yo know how to move there, or is it just another shiny idea I romanticize but never plan for?

A reasonable person would set up an emergency fund before quitting. If I haven’t taken even the first step, do I really want to quit/

Yes, there are plenty of risks we haven’t taken. I don’t dispute that. My first instinct was to list them, as I have done above. And that’s not even the whole list. But then I got to thinking more deeply.

Every risk I’ve truly been willing to take- I’ve already taken.

I have risked losing my identity every time I conformed to someone else’s idea of who I should be.

Now, I risk losing them to reclaim what I lost.

I’ve risked living a full life by settling for what was handed to me, even when I had the power to choose differently.

We face choices ever day. And every time we choose one thing over another, we risk the benefits of the path not taken. That’s what makes life worth living: taking the risk anyway. But only the ones that are true to ourselves. The ones that speak to who we want to be and how we want to live.

The ultimate risk is continuing to be ourselves, even when it doesn’t make sense to others.

It’s choosing for us, not for applause.

It’s sticking to our plans even when no one’s watching.

And maybe that guy was right. Everything we’re not doing- or making concrete plans to do- we might not truly want. Not enough, anyway.

So maybe the question isn’t ” what’s the biggest risk you haven’t taken?” Maybe its : What do you really want-and what are you willing to risk to get it?