“You will never win if you never begin.” - Helen Rowland

Calculating Risk, photo courtesy Flickr

Time for a confession: I'm a 'fraidy cat. There, I said it. Yup, I'm a play by the rules, check everything twice, plan in advance, cost-benefit analysis kind of girl, and 99.9% of the time, I'm proud of it. But, what I'm learning, is that 0.01% of risk-taking generally pays off.

For example, learning to ride a bike. Sure, you get a few scratches here and there, but in the end, you can ride around the neighborhood, wind in your hair, free from elementary responsibilities until sundown. Or how about trying new food: While octopus sounds gross and slimy, it is actually delicious, and you can brag about being adventurous and eating octopus. Or finally, what about applying for that dream job for which you may not technically have enough experience? You run the risk of a "thanks, but no thanks" letter, but think about if you actually get it? Risk. Action. Win.

So, logically, the greater the risk, or, the greater opposition to even taking the risk from the beginning, the greater the success of the win, right? Hmm... ok, still on the fence about that one, but I definitely agree with this logic: you can't win if you don't play the game. And with a calculated strategy, sure, I'll play.