The Only Certainty Is Change

Nothing in life is certain, apart of course from uncertainty itself. No one has a crystal ball, and no one can tell the exact outcome of the choices they make. If you cross the road, you don’t know for sure that you will make it safely to the other side. In fact, crossing the road carries a fairly high level of risk. It is safer than going in an airplane, for example.

Yet this is something most people are comfortable doing on a regular basis. If you get on a bicycle for the first time, you risk falling off; chances are, you probably will. However, this risk carries a gain, the ultimate pleasure of being able to ride a bicycle. The risk was worth its reward. You could classify this as a low-level risk. While you might sustain a few scrapes, scratches and bruises as you learn this new skill, you know you are unlikely to die in the process.

A high-level risk might be crossing Niagara Falls on a tight rope, with no net. The risk of death is much, much higher. Some people take risks such as these to attain the adrenaline rush that accompanies dangerous risk.

The French acrobat Charles Blondin in 1859 was the real-life dare devil who did just that, by all accounts taking pleasure in the gambles and bets people placed on whether he would live or die. He did succeed in his feat, although the betting odds were stacked against him doing so.

Think of the mother who risks her life to save her child. The benefit outweighs the risk.

Think back to childhood. What risks were you willing to take?

Small children, with their naturally curious approach to the world around them, are very likely to take risks, in their desire to learn, grow, and move. Some of them may be climbers, some may do back flips or somersaults, some may try squeezing through the bars in the railings to see if they can do it, and end up getting stuck!

Children fall into rivers, slide into mud, rock climb, jump off high places, climb trees, fall out of lofts, accidents occur, and for the most part, they survive and they learn.

Every time you take a risk and survive, what happens?

You learn something new about the world that you didn’t know before, and more often than not, you learn something about yourself, your own skills and strengths and capacities.