Good Wednesday morning to you. The week is half over; it’s the middle, the center point. Maybe you’re thinking “It’s all downhill from here.” With the theme this week, just like our year and our week, it’s not over yet. You could still be taking some brave moves, maybe a risk, take a gamble. After all, I’m sure we are all actually taking many risks in our lives.
As I was getting on the plane yesterday morning, the thought came to me of how many of us take risks or gamble with things or events in our lives. And we don’t realize how many things we are doing that really pose a risk because they are such common parts of our lives that we would never think of them as a risk or a gamble. Take driving in your car. Or me riding the motorcycle. Yes, I know I take a risk every time I get on it; getting around in traffic today and making it through a city like Dallas is a risk but it has become normal to me. The concept of getting on a plane and flying across the country or around the world is a risk, flying that far up in the air, and headed to a location so far away in one day.
Yesterday was my second day in a row of plane flights. I was thinking how much of a risk or a gamble it was to do things like this every day. Do you remember the first time that you got on a plane? I remember it was a fearful night for me. I worked all day so that I would fall asleep on the flight, since I was not sure how I would take it. Now I travel so much the fears have gone; I think nothing of the risk.
In life we take many risks. We gamble with many things that we thought were risky the first time, but after the 30th time we think nothing of it. I was thinking of this while taking my plane trip yesterday. Beginning with the walk through security most people who travel regularly have a system for getting through the checkpoint. When we get to the plane we know where to sit in the waiting area so we can get up when they call us. But while I was waiting to board yesterday, I saw two young ladies who were clearly not familiar with the way the seating works on Southwest Airlines. They were trying to figure out where to stand in line. I stepped up and explained to them since I was going to be in line behind them. After my short instructions, I was asked by them, “So do you fly a lot?” That gave me the idea that some things in life that were once a risk, or gamble or just unfamiliar, we now walk through without even thinking, like it’s a normal part of life.
Later, I was talking with someone one the plane about gambling. We talked about what he liked to do when going to Las Vegas. We discussed how he had a style that allowed him to actually make money gambling and it was not considered cheating. The secret, he told me, is taking a calculated risk. You know when the cards are not looking good, when the cards look bad. But the biggest thing he learned in gambling was that if he lost a certain amount or won a certain amount it was time to walk away.
So how does this fit in with our end-of-the-year push? Just because there are only eight weeks left in 2011 does not mean that you cannot take a few small stretches, maybe a risk or two to get you further towards your goals for next year so you finish this year with excitement and momentum. Take a look at some areas of your life and see if you can find some place to still take some small risks that will bring you great rewards. Make the last eight weeks of 2011 the best weeks of your year.
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dreams, to love what you do and those you share this life with. It’s not too late to take a few risks and become a RockStar in your world.
