Risk taking is free

Dedicated to all the risk takers in my life who have shown me a way to grow.

I have kept a funeral notice in my keepsakes since 2003 of a young woman I looked up, who inspired me and, because of one comment, challenged me. That one comment, although shared in the context of her work life, applied to me in big letters.. and I took the risk to act on it.

Sue died at 33, of cancer, leaving behind a young family. She had stepped up to the challenge of working in a male world and held her own with dignity and grace. Today ( yes, April Fool’s Day) is her daughter’s birthday, and mine, and I remind myself that it is only a fool who does not take courage in both hands to step out in faith, and it is an appropriate day to acknowledge Sue’s legacy.

On the back of her funeral sheet is a poem she had written:

Risk Taking is Free

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool To weep is to risk appearing sentimental To reach out for another is to risk involvement

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To play your ideas, your dream before the crowd is to risk their loss

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 risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing

She may avoid suffering and sorrow, but she simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love and live

Chained by certitudes she is a slave, and she has forfeited freedom

Only a person who risks is free