The Wrong Kind of Risk And The Right Kind of Risk

When I was young I was willing to take risks but they were often the wrong kinds of risks. In other words, they were risks that were frequently rooted in an unearned and unwarranted self-confidence. They were often risks I was unprepared to learn from due to a lack of maturity, knowledge and self-awareness and, therefore, the risks were not as helpful as they could have been.

Now that I’m older I find I am more reluctant to take risks—I naturally gravitate toward the comfort zone. But now the risks I am unwilling to take are, ironically, the right kind of risks. In other words, they are risks that are necessary for me to keep learning, stretching and growing.

I’m hoping to get this risk thing perfected—avoiding the wrong kinds of risks and diving headlong into the right kinds of risks—any day now.

Stretching At A Fast Food Joint

While Rachel and I were having lunch I looked over to the other side of the room and noticed that a man was going through an elaborate stretching routine.

This was not a situation in which he stood up and touched his toes a few times, this was two minutes of stretches using his chair and table as exercise equipment.

Please understand I don't think he was doing anything wrong and I suspect there are no laws or civil codes he was violating. However I think it's fair to say that what he was doing qualifies as somewhat unusual behavior. In all my years I have never before seen someone enter into a two minute exercise routine in a fast food restaurant.

At one point the man looked in my direction and noticed I was watching him. He then gave me a very angry look. He looked so mad that I thought he might come over and say something to me. In fact he stood up, adjusted his pants and took a step in my direction.

I thought, "Uh oh, now what's going to happen? This guy looks ticked!"

But fortunately, he didn't come my way. (I was rapidly trying to recall my years of training with Mr Miyagi.)

I'll admit I felt a little bit guilty about staring at him. But hey, firstly, I wasn't the only one looking at him. And secondly, if you launch into something like a yoga routine at a restaurant don't you have to expect that one or two people are going to curiously stare?

Yep, these are the kinds of small diversions that help keep life interesting.