Life brings us to different places at different times, for many different reasons. Sometimes it will bring you to the point of understanding that in order to move forward in your journey you must take risks. Risk is not to be confused with faith; faith is something believed in and hoped for that may be unseen but you know it's there. I'm talking about risk, something you visualize or feel but don't know exactly which way to go about executing it because you don't know the outcome. A risk is "the potential of gaining or losing something of value", so when you weigh the options on losing something you may cherish or hold in high value it becomes more than just believing. It takes tenacity, strength and endurance to gain the ability to ride out the emotions and inner turmoil, waiting on the responses of your actions. It's not easy to take risks because there is always something of value at stake.
We all take risks everyday no matter how small or subtle they may seem. Much of the time we only look at the big risks because they seem to hurt a lot more than the ones we take for granted. I am learning daily that every risk taken will affect our lives in one way or another even if it's not immediate. Conquering the fear factor placed on risk taking is the first step to having better outcomes through the experience. Once I understood that fear is the driving force of emotions during the risk taking experience, I had to learn to release that fear into the universe because it didn't belong to me. As an artist, I have no room in my experience to doubt my creations. I have no room for negative energy in my positive realm of thought. I have no room to stand in fear. I have a responsibility to bring truth to light and help to mend what has been broken.
The second step of my understanding of taking risks is recognizing and honoring your "Spirit". However you decide to identify with your spirituality; is understanding and walking in alignment with those feelings you get before something goes either amazingly well or terribly sour. This is usually your spirit trying to guide you into better experiences, giving you a sense of direction leading you into that final decision to move. When intuition tells you not to do something, I have found that it is almost always in your best interest to listen.
As I watch my children grow into adults, the risks become more evident. I want to protect them from everything that will hurt but I have to let them go out into the world and experience those pains anyway; that is what will make them better people. Experiencing their own trials, developing their own strategies and creating their own lives. It is not our job as parents to create our children's destiny for them, we are here just to lay a foundation so when they take their own risks they have something to go by. This is step three of my understanding of risks: "Letting Go" and not holding onto preconceived notions about what outcome you may or may not have.
Obtaining a driver’s license doesn't make you a good driver, it only gives you permission to get behind the wheel. I make that analogy because it takes practice to become better at changing lanes or moving in different directions. Obtaining the tools to our lives doesn't make us better operators unless we practice using those tools. Sometimes you have to let go of your emotions and take the risk because not taking the risk will most likely leave you asking "What if..."
Take the risk!