Some days I don’t feel like writing. Those are typically the days when I most need to write.
I started writing today with a post in mind. I was going to write about crushes and mushy stuff like that. Then I texted my friend and was trying to find this quote for my post, and I realized I didn’t want to write about crushes and mushy stuff. What I wanted to write about was life and allowing yourself to experience it.
I am a person. I am a person who wants to be something. I am not currently that something. But I believe that I have a responsibility to the people around me to continue to be the person I currently am. And so I refuse change and stay away from things that I know would be difficult for me or that would challenge me.
This is all kind of deep. Donald Miller says it much better.
No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath… We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn’t it? – Through Painted Deserts
I asked a friend once if I take risks. And she said, “no.” Then I tried giving her counterexamples. What about the time I kept that library book until the last minute? What about the time I skipped class? What about the time I spent $10 on a book I wanted? First, she laughed. Then she told me that those were all calculated risks – that I was taking risks that ultimately didn’t matter, that had no impact on how people saw me, that didn’t affect me in any significant way. She was right.
If there is something I really want and the only way I can get it is by taking a risk, then I don’t do it. That’s silly. Life’s too short and all that jazz.
Help me take risks and leave your encouraging risk-taking story in the comments!
Spencer J Smith 
I wish I could give you an encouraging risk-taking story, Spencer, but I can’t–because I tend to do the same thing. There are times when you (generic you, of course) want something more than anything else…and it’s something that would involve exposing your heart so that all the world can shoot at it, and it’s terrifying…how do you get around that? How can regular humans avoid trying to protect themselves at all costs–which inevitably leads to a life filled with fear and regret?
In essence, I guess my comment can be summed up as: ditto.
It’s good to know that there are others out there going through the same thing, Rachel! Let’s make a risk-taking pact!
I like that… so true too. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about who I see myself as in say, 5 years, and most of the time, its someone radically different than the person I am today. Taking the risk helps you get there, but its so difficult sometimes!
My greatest risk was moving away from my family for 5 months. May not seem huge, but God taught me so much during that time. Sometimes risks dish out a lot of pain, but so much beauty at the same time!
I love the image of risk giving pain and beauty! Thanks for sharing, Sam!