Daily Inspiration 2-23-10

"Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security

only as he is moving forward. . . "

"We must have courage to bet on our ideas,

to take the calculated risk, and to act."

-- Maxwell Maltz

"Only the insecure strive for security."

-- Wayne Dyer

"If we can learn to make uncertainty our friend. . . ."

-- John Naisbitt

Insurance. It is an interesting thing and it is a modern idea. Many of us take it from granted now, because on some things it has become required and not an option, such as car insurance and home owners insurance. Insuring against risk is a common desire. Heck, there is insurance on virtually anything you can imagine, and Lloyd's of London will gladly consider your future imaginations.

Risk is another interesting word. I especially like the common phrase, calculated risk, because it indicates that we can accurately calculate risk and make it somehow more acceptable, and then insurance, just in case, will make it pretty much painless.

Written agreements are meant to limit risk. A prenuptial is meant to limit the risk of marriage, which everyone knows is a risk. With most of us, who knows what could happen? But with the prenuptial, everyone knows what will happen. And, so many times they are self-fulfilling prophecies.

Back to my favorite phrase of calculated risk. . . or as some turn the phrase into, counting the cost. How do you calculate risk? Is there a book of risk factors we can research and determine accurately the risk? What if circumstances change during the endeavor? Would we then re-calculate the risk? Does calculating the risk have anything to do with the potential completion of a task?

Man has always wanted to fly since time began. Man tried every imaginable way to take to the air. For a while. Then, it was believed that if man was meant to fly, God would have made him a bird, so he gave up. The risk was too great. Leaping off a tall building or from a tall tree was too great a risk. Several thousand years later, some idiot began again. Failure after failure ensued. Then, putting together the effective means, man took flight. Man has taken flight in hundreds of different ways since, and now it is so common, none of us even gives it a thought. We fly. We were meant to fly. Heck, we now even fly to other bodies in the sky and send automatic flying machines many millions of miles into the sky.

What is it that you want to do? Calculating the risk to me means that you are calculating how strong your desire is and how firm your commitment might be. After calculating that risk, you have only two choices. Do or do not do. I'm sorry, but there is no insurance. Do or do not do is all there is.

"There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.

-- Douglas MacArthur

Security Is All In My Head. So Is My Success.

Spread Some Joy Today--Think of something small that you have wanted to do and were afraid of the risk. Act on it and get your confidence back. Then work on bigger things.