Are You Willing To Risk Losing It All in Order to Gain?

Often times I am reticent to change certain things or take risks. I reason that I should just stick to what I am doing, why rock the boat? However, sometimes that boat needs rocking. It can add life to something that has gone stale. It can provide a new opportunity where an old one has closed. It can relieve you of a bad situation and provide a better one. If I never risk anything, do I really ever gain anything meaningful? What real pleasure can be gained?

We have taken a lot of risks in the past year, some out of necessity and others calculated, with the hopes that we would not regret it later. Starting something new and/or different is always scary, especially for people like me who like to be in control and think of all possibilities in a thousand different scenarios before acting. Ultimately, only time will tell if these risks were wise, but so far everything seems to indicate that they were the right decisions to make.

I suppose the lesson learned is that sometimes change is necessary, risks are good, and circumstances are meant to change or evolve. This is not to say I am now willing to throw all caution to the wind and begin risking away, but it is to say that in the future I will be less hesitant to try new things, more likely sacrifice now so we don't have to in the future, and more willing to adapt and evolve as necessary.

How do you feel about change? It is something you embrace or tend to shy away from? When you have taken huge risks have they paid off?