Do Great Risks = Great Rewards?

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Do you believe the saying that with great risks come great rewards?

Although I believe that great risks have the ability to yield great rewards, I think we all know a little too well that great risks don't always provide us with great rewards. Let me begin by saying I am a usually optimistic person. I may let life get me down, struggle with low self-confidence, and occasionally worry where the next pay check is coming from (being a freelancer, its unavoidable), but for the most part I believe in sunshine and buttercups - and that life has a way of working itself out. 

I am a scholar of the secret, I practice gratitude and I know deep down in my soul we are the creators of our universe. I've lived both carelessly and safely, and although I wish I could say I've gotten the balance down pat, I'm currently sitting just a little too far on the safe side at the moment. As a result, I second guess my decisions, I overanalyze opportunities for change and I shy away from possible seismic shifts that have the potential to turn my life upside down. I think I can mostly attribute this self-created safety net to a number of probably not right (but not quite bad) decisions my significant other and I made regarding the purchase of our home, a new car, and a few vacations within a short period of time. Those willy nilly days of our past hold some of the most amazing memories for both of us, and as a result we still somehow feel indebted to them (both financially and emotionally), years later. Like the great risks we took together when we jumped in with both feet paid off with great emotional rewards but poor financial rewards. Even though the bills are paid, and we disagree with consumer debt, we still feel like maybe we were given too much fun. 

So, we started feeling like maybe we shouldn't take too many risks. Maybe we should live like we should and start climbing the "American Dream" ladder. Maybe we shouldn't take too many risks because it might hinder our development in building something bigger for the future. In going back to the prompt at hand (and what I mentioned above), yes, I do believe that with big risks can come great rewards. More than we ever expected. I also believe that big rewards don't really happen unless you take big risks. When was the last time you seen an investor make an extra $10,000 from a product he didn't invest in? Or a woman receive a job offer for a dream job that she didn't apply for? It sounds so simple, but like I mentioned in yesterday's article, risk taking is just one of those things that maybe we need to reminded of to do. 

This world is so much bigger than we know it to be, and honestly, we aren't going to experience that mind-blowing "holy crap the world is huge" moment until we start taking a few risks outside of our comfort zone. Myself included. 

"There comes a day when you realize turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realize there is so much more to the book than the page you were stuck on."

- Zayn Malik 

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This month, I'm taking part in the Monthly NaBloPoMo Challenge, hosted by BlogHer. See all my March posts on Risk here. To find more blogs that are participating, please click here.