...if you don't risk anything, you risk even more." Erica Jong
Risk.
This is a tough one. We got so many messages growing up about being safe…cemented for years by stories of people who risk everything and lose. People around us “tsk tsk” and shaking their head when people do something “foolhardy.” Every risky thing I have ever wanted to do in my life was inevitably met with a chorus of “how do you expect to support yourself?” “There are already people doing that…what is different about you?” “Do you have the right experience for that?” and my personal favorite “Maybe you should just do that as a hobby.”
The result of this kind of culture is “calculated” risk taking. Making sure the odds are weighted heavily in our favor before taking the chance. We figure the rejection or failure is a little too scary. Best to think everything through.
We are at an interesting moment in the history of the world. Things have never moved as quickly…or accelerated as wildly, as they are doing right now. The resources we have access to are unprecedented (financial, information, people, etc.), and yet we do not feel empowered to take the steps we want to take to change our lives or the lives of others. We have unprecedented access to the widest range of community than any generation before us, but we are nervous about reaching out to them…and suspicious when others we don’t know reach out to us.
Rejection and risk need to be put in the place they belong…helpers to the process…something necessary to get to the other side.
So, how about a game then? With prizes even!
Monday starts my version of The Rejection Therapy Game! You can read more about the premise on this website. It is a rather simple game. Every day you do something that takes you outside of your comfort zone, and risk rejection in the process. I am inviting all my friends to enter this experience with me.
Over the weekend, I will tell you more about the game…AND the prizes. In the meantime, message me to add you to my closed Facebook group for the challenge.
In the meantime, think about it. Comment if this sounds like something your soul needs. You have nothing to lose but your fear.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. “
Nelson Mandela
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
I'm in!
This is what my soul needs.
People think I'm brave because I try lots of things. The problem is that the things I try hold no power - about them I think "Maybe I can do it, maybe I can't. What the heck."
My real struggle is when there's something I need or should do. Then I get nervous and go into avoidance. This is a perfect challenge for me.
Thanks for posing it and please count me in.
Post a Comment