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.

Love Involves Risk and Vulnerability

If we really love others we are doing something that is risky and vulnerable. 

I know that comment seems cynical.  I don’t intend for it to be taken that way.  I’m simply expressing a reality of life.  There are risks and vulnerabilities involved in loving others because people are imperfect.  Sometimes we hurt each other.  Sometimes we irritate each other. Sometimes we misunderstand each other.  Sometimes we do things that make others genuinely angry.  More painful still, sometimes we extend love and it is not returned.

Followers of Jesus are called to go ahead and love others, despite the risk and vulnerability.  In fact, it’s strange to think that the most perfectly loving person who ever lived was executed.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  Colossians 3:12-14

Action Is What Leads To A New Future

*POSTED:  In order to have a genuine sense of hope we have to believe that the future holds something good and positive. “It is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future.” Victor Frankl

The following question came in response to the post, above...

Question:  What happens when someone believes the future just holds more of the same?

Answer...

The idea that the future “just holds more of the same” would actually be a comfortable place for some people.  But it’s clear that that’s not the sense in which the questioner is expressing this thought.  The idea that the future just holds more of the same would, frankly, be anything but hopeful for a lot of us.

If we don’t want the future to hold more of the same, the bottom line is that we have to be willing to do different things.  I’m specifically referring to “actions.”  For the future to be different, we have to be willing to take new actions.  We have to try things we haven’t tried before.  All the clichés—like “be willing to move out of your comfort zone”—that we’ve heard before apply here.  (It’s helpful to remember that sometimes a “saying” becomes cliché because it’s true.)

So, we have to be willing to take some different actions that might feel risky to us.  (By the way, I’m not talking about doing things that are “risky” in the sense of being illegal or life threatening, but risky in the sense of being actions we haven’t taken before.)

In fact, it’s very likely that the future will, in fact, hold more of the same unless we take some new actions.

When it comes to making changes in our lives—changes that move us into a future that’s not just the same as the past—there are factors that can make a difference, factors like thinking, planning, learning new things, and making new commitments.  But at the end of the day action trumps everything else.  The actions we take will be the biggest factor in moving us toward a different future.

There's A Time To Wait And A Time To Act

There’s a time to pray and wait and ponder.  And then there’s a time to act.  Sometimes it’s not so easy to know which time is the right one.  But consider this: if we want to engage life fully, we have to be willing to take the risk of action.  “If you act, you won’t spend the rest of your life going, ‘I wonder what would have happened if…’” Kiefer, Schlesinger & Brown

Taking Some Risks?

When our faith is acted upon, we engage in a combination of belief and trust that can sometimes seem risky to us.  That’s why those of us who want to live a vibrant, purposeful, difference-making life of faith have to be willing to take what might seem like “a few risks” when we follow Jesus.

Doing Something...Well...Something "Risky"

“Love” and “trust” are closely connected and interdependent. Real love requires trust. When trust is absent, genuine love is diminished. So, a willingness to do something…well… actually…something… RISKY is necessary for the full experience of love. We must take the RISK of “trusting”. Will we get hurt sometimes? Yes, we will. But that is part of the cost of authentic love.