Emotions stay with us, no matter if they are positive or negative. That blissful moment or the tear jerker, the time when we rose high above the clouds in our success, and the moment when we failed miserably and fell flat on our face. Life is filled with these ups and downs. It is part of becoming who we are and learning how to do things. I love this quote from Simone Biles as it reminds us that above all other things regret is the worst.
It isn’t the failure that kills us, it is the fear that prevented us from trying that will drive us mad. So you failed, we all do. Give yourself time to pout, wallow, get back up, figure out what went wrong, then get going again. Cool we can all do that. It is the regret from he chances we did not take that will haunt our days and make us feel less than over and over and over again. The words we kept to ourselves out of fear, the step forward into the unknown that paralyzed us, or the kindness we kept to ourselves because we didn’t know how the other person would react. All of those moments required of us to take a risk. And risking is tough.
You know that risk moment. The one when your stomach tightens up, sweat begins to build in unwanted places, your mouth goes dry and you just KNOW that you can go for it or sit back…the choice is up to you. No one else may ever know you were facing the option to take a risk, suffering in silence is an eternal cloud for our own lack of action. It is also the moment that will haunt us until we die. To go for it, or to stay safe? THAT is the question isn’t it?
Some of us are more comfortable with risk, maybe because we bounce back better from failure. Some of us weigh all the details, mire ourselves in the minutia and evaluate every option available. Doing that work means our chance to risk passes us by like a speeding car on the highway never to be seen again. Our lack of action, our need to be certain, our compulsive search for the right answer, all of that means we want to be sure which means it is no longer a risk. Part of the glory with risk is moving forward in uncertainty. Not knowing and doing it anyway.
Let me encourage you to just do it, take that risk and experience the consequences, good, bad or indifferent. Dare to be who you want to be, to express yourself, to move forward without all the facts. Risk! It is better than wishing you had after all those moments have passed. Regret is an awful emotion to relive every time you think about what you didn’t try to do. Sure you might fail, at least you acted and moved forward. Standing still and being safe will get you no where. When your little, inner voice says, “That’s risk…” Answer YES! And do it anyway!
Ann Art Gallery Blog 