What is risk and why is it something to fear, to avoid?
To risk is to be exposed to the possibility of loss or damage. Opposing risk is saying to yourself: “If I do this, I could lose something that I value or something bad could happen to me. Better to stay where I am or take a safe route, follow the path of least resistance.” “Staying stagnant sucks up the life energy of the creative person. Mass producing safe and predictable work that will elicit familiar and expected responses is unsatisfying for an artist, a creative person in any endeavor, who yearns to express their full potential.
“The thing is to do it, that’s what it’s about. Not on the results of it. After all, what is a risk? It is a risk not to take risks. like a person who takes risks. However, there is something within me that must be controversial because I find it wherever I go. Anyone who cares about what they do takes a risk. “- Al Pacino
Risk implies opening up, being vulnerable, to change and growth. Taking risks is staying focused on the truth of who you are, what you wish to express as your life purpose using the full potential of your unique gifts that are your birthright. Risking is having the ability to ignore your need for the approval of others to take the most appropriate action to achieve that expression.
Often times, this loss of approval is what people fear the most. They would rather remain small, locked in chains of conformity to the expectations of others, than to shine a light on what their heart yearns to express. But you have to take risks, because the greatest danger in life is not risking anything. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing.
If as a baby you decided not to risk falling, you would never have walked. You risked looking like the fool by laughing at what tickled your funny bone. You loved another person risking losing that love. You expose your feelings and expose yourself to criticism and rejection. You grew and evolved. Where you fight is where you have contained your true expression.
Actors learned to harness their own inner power and wisdom to take risks, go beyond the comfort zone of safety and expose themselves to criticism, losing favor with the audience and their peers to expose the range of emotions and feelings. to bring truth to the character, to his role. You cannot express the truth without risk. To retain the truth is to appear falsely in your life.
“I fully take the risk, the game of poker, what it means to be an artist, and I’m going to try to make a movie that honestly reflects what I have in mind.” – Antonio Banderas
To stay safe, people will find excuses and reasons (FEAR) not to take risks. These fears will be rooted in the following egoic needs:
1. Approval
2. To avoid guilt
3. Be right
4. To avoid conflicts
5. To avoid responsibility
6. To avoid failure
7. Certainty
8. Expectations to meet
9. To stay secure in the status quo, negative or positive.
10. To affirm self-identifying beliefs, negative or positive.
“Actors are trusting souls, and we must be guided by instinct, even after our agents and business managers weigh all the odds.” -Anne Archer
Some people forget that to risk is also to open the possibility of a favorable outcome. Inspiration-based risks will always have a favorable outcome, even if that outcome is not realized immediately. A failure can lead to new knowledge, new awareness, which will create unprecedented success at a later date. Risk, or risk aversion, based on fear, will always have a negative outcome. Not venturing into the unknown will limit the discovery of new ideas, new approaches, new perspectives. Being creative is actively thinking in a non-linear way and letting go of expectations while opening up to new possibilities.
“It’s fun to be on the edge. I think you do your best work when you take chances, when you’re not sure, when you’re not in the middle of the road, at least for me, anyway.” -Danny DeVito
Only those who risk are free. Taking risks based on what comes from the heart rather than the egoic mind frees the creative person to explore beyond the limits of what is already known. For the inspired risk taker there are no limitations, there are no limits on what can be expressed, brought to the experience. Everything is possible.
“I strongly believe in taking risks in life, because you will never get anywhere unless you do, and the higher the risk, the greater the result, or worse, but you never know, so you have to.” – Famke Janssen
Learning to see differently, learning to reach a new perspective, is the spark that ignites the creative spirit. The willingness to look through a new and different lens requires removing your rose-colored safety goggles. Allow yourself to break free from the chains of limitations imposed by others and by yourself through your own fearful Inner Critic who works hard to keep you safe, right where you are now. Be willing to go beyond the convention and conformity of those who support themselves and try to prevent you from moving beyond the here and now and what has always been. Honor your authenticity, trust your intuition.
“I always took a risk and never cared about what the world might think of me.” – Dear
When you live life and approach your work inspired by your truth, you will always be safe. You will always feel fulfilled by this alignment with what you are here to express and your purpose in life. You’ll effortlessly invest in your creative potential and enjoy the ride, the thrill of a lifetime.
“Risk is really an essential part of being a creative person.” – Kevin Bacon
Copyright (c) 2009 Valery Satterwhite