Not all risks are worth taking, but many of them are. We hear stories over and over again about the people who reach the end of their lives and regret the fact that they never took any risks, that they never challenged life. It's sad when this happens, but it's very common—people let their fear control their decisions about whether or not to take risks.
But again, not all risks are worth taking. Sometimes we find someone trying to talk us into taking a risk with them in a scheme that will benefit them more than it will benefit us.
Of course, we can't prepare for every possible risk in our lives. Things come up quickly and unexpectedly that force us to make decisions--risk it, or not? Should I take the new job in a new city and move my entire family? What happens if things don't work out? Well, that's risk.
Some people want to take care of every possible outcome of risk before they're willing even to take the risk. The bad news is that nobody's able to control life--that's God's job. We can try to minimize the risk, but when we do this, we lose a great deal of the potential benefit of taking the risk, for we're only willing to take a partial risk.
On the other hand, isn't a partial risk better than no risk at all?
There's nothing saying that we have to take risks, but the lives many people who have reached the end of their lives with a great deal of regret over risks untaken shows us that risk is something that can transform our lives. Risk makes us grow in many ways; it helps us to learn; to become stronger, wiser people than we were before we took the risk.
We have to enter risk with our eyes wide open, fully aware of the potential problems that could arise as results of our risk-taking. But we also need to think about risks carefully before we ever take them to find out if they're worth taking or not. When you're faced with an opportunity to take a risk, remember that risks not taken can be disastrous, but so can risks poorly considered. If...