risk

risk. It is what we live our lives by. Every second of our life, we pass through situations which each have a risk value. Waking up in the morning; one can risk falling out of bed, risk waking up with  headache, risk stubbing your toe against that pesky door, risk slipping in the bathroom and cracking our head open, risk finding the toothpaste tube empty, risk that you burn your tongue with hot coffee, risk that you electrocute yourself when turning on the pc, risk of a paper-cut when studying....

obviously some of these risks are very low (thankfully) and some of them are very plausible. The thing about these risks is that generally one looks at the risk of negative outcomes. According to everyone's friend the Oxford Dictionary:

risk

  • noun 1 a situation involving exposure to danger. 2 the possibility that something unpleasant will happen. 3 a person or thing causing a risk or regarded in relation to risk: a fire risk.

  • verb 1 expose to danger or loss. 2 act in such a way as to incur the risk of. 3 incur risk by engaging in (an action).

  — PHRASES at one’s (own) risk taking responsibility for one’s own safety or possessions. run (or take) a risk (or risks) act in such a way as to expose oneself to danger.

  — ORIGIN Italian risco ‘danger’.

When considering the risks of every day life, it is quite scary really. Obviously if you had to think about the risks of it all you would drive yourself absolutely bonkers and never get out of bed (but you would have to move around to prevent bedsores etc.) While there are some people who live their life by calculating the risk:benefit  ratio if all that they do, there are others that play it all by ear. They work with a "try-it-out-and-see-how-it-goes" kinda thing. I think that a healthy balance of risk analysis in ones own life is quite important. You cant just walk through a 10-lane motorway and "hope for the best", as that probably wont happen. Again one doesn't need to spend an hour and a half worrying about what to wear on a regular night out because the probability is that only 2-5% of people actually take a long hard look at what you are wearing.

Some people quit their jobs and travel the world and others move to a new country in hopes of a new life. Others stick to the familiar, the well trod-on path. I find myself constantly inspired by people who take risks in life and manage to achieve what they set out to obtain, and sometimes even when a person does not achieve it, they still end up learning a lot of experiences and meeting some fantastic people along the way. Like this guy who travelled from pole to pole. Coming to think of it, without risk the world would be nowhere near where we are today. The USA would still be undiscovered to the Europeans,  world would still be flat, TV wouldn't exist- so forget computers and the internet. We would probably still be stuck living in caves and hunting wild cats and mice for dinner....

anyway I guess the point is; risk....will it empower you, or intimidate you. Dare to Live and Live to Dare. The life you deserve is out there, waiting for you.

BTW: There is a very interesting paper written by R. Wilson (a professor at the University of Harvard) called - Analyzing the Daily risks of Life (1979). It is quite interesting really and it relates to health issues in particular.