Take the risk

​“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
― Helen Keller, The Open Door
 
In my youth I was able to take a lot of risk to achieve my goals. I knew if I failed I had time on my side to recover from any mistakes I made. Regardless of how outlandish my dreams may have been I moved forward to achieve them with an inner trust knowing they were right for me. When I was a sophomore in high school my parents had limited income and were not in the position to give me extra spending money. I always had a passion to live life to the fullest so I got a part time job that provided me spending and some extra to save.
 
Once I started earning more money than I needed for entertainment I got the bright idea at the age of 16 that I wanted to purchase a piece a land for an investment. That Sunday in the real estate section of the newspaper I saw a full page add about undeveloped property for sale that would be developed in the future. The property was zoned to build doubles so I saw this as a great investment opportunity. I convinced my dad to consign the loan and I purchased the property.
 
Youth and success were on my side and I continued to take risks and achieve my goals. In this stage of the journey, being on a fixed income in retirement puts a different perspective on many aspects of our lives. It most definitely challenges my beliefs in taking risks. However my many years of approaching any challenge with a positive outlook is my saving grace.
 
Many people get paralyzed with fear when crises happen like the real estate market collapses, the stock market crashes, or the costs of raising and educating a family escalates. They totally shut down, are blind to any help, and certainly see any resolution as a risk. In many cases they connect with likeminded fear based people and lose the trust they had in themselves that anything is possible if you focus on a positive outcome and have a plan to make it happen.
 
That is when a renewed trust is much needed. Connecting with positive people, reading inspirational books and going to your personal tool box to draw on resources are all important. The risk is not necessarily financial. It can be a risk to make changes to be more positive so that you can be open to new and different solutions.
 
As I often mention, the tool I use daily is writing in my grateful journal. Following my writing I write one or two words to get guidance for the day. Yesterday my word was “trust.”  Everything I picked up to read that day had something to do with trusting in yourself in making decisions and trusting in the advice received from friends. Needless to say I followed through with that message with a high level of confidence. It turned out to be a wonderful day. That sign renewed my inner spirit to trust in myself and to continue to take risks.
 
This week you may want to think about what positive changes you would like to make in yourself so that you can be a positive influence on those around you. Doing this is a major risk because it requires trust. Change always does. This can start with something simple like having a positive message on your voicemail for incoming missed calls. My message has caused people to call me and ask that I not answer the next call because they have people they want to hear the message. That is a tremendous sign that people want to hear more positive things in their lives.