Risk

Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices.

Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.

- Katherine Mansfield

The Dilemma

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk rejection.
To place your dreams before a crowd is to risk ridicule.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrows, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or love.

Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave - he has forfeited his freedom.

Only a person who takes risks is FREE

RiskMark painted this picture....read it from the bottom up. I think this is one of my favorites.

All the best things in life come packaged in a ribbon of risk.
You untie the gift, you assume the risk, and equally, the joy.
Parenthood is like that. Marriage is like that. Friendship is like that.
In order to experience life in the full sense, you expose yourself to a bottomless pit of vulnerability.
That is the essence of true love.
-- Kristin Armstrong