Not everyone likes taking risks, and that is understandable. Because when you take risks, there is always that possibility of you getting hurt. And most times, the magnitude of the risk will determine the magnitude of the hurt that will follow. It is not a happy thought, but that is life for you. And that is a reason many people prefer to play it safe. They will stick to what they know and avoid the uncertainties that risks come with, despite the promise of a lot of proceeds. For many, the fact that they could get hurt is enough reason to keep them from taking the risk entirely. And soon, that moment will pass. But then, I just have to ask, is it even safe to play it safe? When you think about it, everything in life is all about taking risks. It is like we are all in one giant cauldron of taking risks that no matter where we turn we would be faced with another risk that we have to decide on. Doing something is a risk, and then not doing something is a risk in itself. When we don’t take risks, we do not make mistakes, that is why many people rely on safety so much. Because when you are in your comfort zone, it will be difficult for you to see things any different. But then, if we do not make mistakes, how would we learn? And if we do not learn, how are we going to grow? And if we are not growing, can we say we are alive? What am I trying to say? Risk-taking is a part and parcel of humans, it is in our core DNA. And suppressing it will do nothing to help us at all in any way. Instead, we must embrace it with wide arms and learn to take it, so that once we have gotten better, we would be in a better position to take even more risks. We all have our stories of taking risks, and I am no different. I remember a time when I had to make a tough decision, and this one was not even with my money, but with the church’s money. Years ago, before I gained admission, I was appointed to the office of the Director of Social in the Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria in my parish. One of my earliest jobs in the office at that time was preparing what we were going to sell during our harvest. It was decided that we sell yogurt and ice cream. I was placed in charge of this project by virtue of my office. And so I made an estimate of everything and also the profits that would be gotten. And the money was given to me. Because this was ice cream and we didn’t have any cooling system, I had to buy it that Sunday morning and I would go during mass after consecration. That was the only way if I was planning to come back in time and meet the first wave of customers because we would not be the only ones with things to sell. Before that day, I took the number of one of the wholesale sellers, letting him know I would be coming on Sunday morning and that he better be around. He assured me he would. Sunday came, and after consecration, I left the church for the place they sold the ice cream wholesale. He was around, he was very much around indeed. But he didn’t have the ice cream we had planned for. He had brands that I had not even been interested in, when I asked about the ones I had seen earlier he said they had finished. But I had told him I was coming today, why then did he not keep some for me? He replied that it was how a lot of people do, they come and ask for the price without buying anything. how was he to trust me? Well, his distrust was sending all my careful planning down the drain. I left his shop angrily and began to check the other shops around him, and it was as if they had jointly decided to run out of the particular ice cream I was after. It was not funny at all. I didn’t see any other option, I had already wasted too much time. Was I going to return to the church with the money or buy the ones I was seeing? I tried calling my fellow executives, but none of their numbers were going. At that moment, all the responsibility lay on my shoulders. The thing was that these brands the sellers had were not too popular like the ones I wanted, so selling it could mean that we would not have enough buyers. And that would mean a great loss for the organization. I thought long and hard, and eventually, I decided to buy the ice cream like that. It was the wrong brand but it was the only choice. I took my goodies and returned to the church. My dear friends, as it turned out, we were the only ones in the church selling ice cream, so it truly didn’t matter the brand we brought, they would have brought anything we had to give them. We sold it and made quite an amount of money that day. Later, I began to imagine if I had chosen to return with the money, how would that have been? Well, as we all know, it is not all risks that end up being rewarded. Sometimes, you’ll hit payday. And other times, you will just hit empty air. Making the decision is never easy, but I will advise that we try our best to start taking on more risks, educated risks mind you. And in the end, there will always be something to learn from the risks we take. Whether they go according to our plan or not. This post is inspired by the third topic of the week which is Risky and Safety. Feel free to take part. Borderimage credit: @deimage.
Pixabay
Pixabay
Andrea Piacquadio
William Santos
Helena Lopes
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to know what you are thinking. Till we meet in the next post.
I totally understand this scenario. And as much as I would want to blame him for not reserving some for someone who called him a couple of times, I can't. "I'll be back/I'll get back to you" has spoilt market for some people.
How bright was your smile when you realized you had scored a lucky point by purchasing the other brand?
Truly, life is all about risks. I can't imagine not taking risks at this my young age when there are so many options to explore. Putting aside lessons from other people's lives, how then do I learn? Except it's life threatening, what could go wrong?
Omo... my smile was wide and bright indeed. I also understand now, but back then I was only furious. I'm glad I took the risk and it paid off.
Thank you for reading.
Returning with the money would have been disappointing, and automatically the rewards gotten that day would not have been made.
The risk paid of.
That is the fact.
Thank you for reading.
We should know when to take risks and when to stop, Love this one