Do You Take Risks? Or Do You Say "Safety First?"

For many years, according to Herbert Casson, "Safety first' has been the motto of the human race. . . but it has never been the motto of leaders. A leader must face danger. He must take the risk and the blame and the brunt of the storm." If you want to be successful, you must either have a chance or take one. You can't get your head above water if you never stick your neck out.

A dream that does not include risk is not really worthy of being called a dream. Halifax said, "The man who leaves nothing to chance will do few things badly, but he will do very few things." If you'll never take risks, you'll never accomplish great things. Everybody dies, but not everyone has lived.

C.S. Lewis said, "The safest road to hell is gradual one - a gentle slope, soft under foot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." Elizabeth Kenny reflected, "It is better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life." If you dare for nothing, you need hope for nothing.

If you don't risk anything, you risk even more. John Newman wrote, "Calculation never made a hero." Every person has a chance to improve himself, but some just don't believe in taking chances. I agree with Lois Platford when she said, "You have all eternity to be cautious, and then you're dead." Being destined for greatness requires you to take risks and confront great hazards.

You'll always miss 100 percent of the shots that you don't take. Stemmons once said, "When your chances are slim and none. . . go with slim." Morris West remarked, "If you spend your whole life inside waiting for the storms, you'll never enjoy the sunshine." No one reaches the top without daring.

Listen to Conrad Hilton: "I encourage boldness because the danger of seniority and pension plans tempt a young man to settle in a rut named security rather than find his own rainbow." Chuck Yeager advised, "You don't concentrate on risk. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done."

Whenever you see successful person, guarantee that person took risks and made courageous decisions. Success favors the bold. The world is a book in which those who do not take risks read only one page. David Mahoney said, "Refuse to join the cautious crowd that plays not to lose. Play to win."

Metastasis observed, "Every noble acquisition is attended with its risk; he who fears encounter the one must not expect to obtain the other." Listen to Tommy Barnett: "Many people believe that you are really walking by faith when there is no risk, but the truth is the longer you walk with God. . . the greater the risk." If you have found yourself throughout life never scared, embarrassed, disappointed, or hurt, it means you have never taken any chances.

David Viscot wrote, "If you're life is ever going to get better, you'll have to take risks. There is simply no way you can grow without taking chances." You have a chance to improve yourself. Just believe in taking chances.

(From John L. Mason's "An Enemy Called Average")