Are you a risk taker? Or are you afraid of taking risks?
The year I took time off from work, I went to the Philippines to work as a voluntary doctor for six months. In that same year, I travelled to Nepal and India, with a friend, on our backpacks. On the way back from India to Melbourne, we stopped in Miri, East Malaysia.
From Miri, we took a small plane to Mulu National Park, a world heritage area well known for its caves and wildlife. While we were there, we were offered the opportunity to go kayaking on a river. Neither my friend nor I were good swimmers. When we were led to the river, the current of the water flowing down the stream seemed rapid and rushed. But we were in an adventurous mood, and were not in the mindset to say “no” to an adventure… and we survived, with sore arms.
Many years later, I had worked hard and finished my paediatric training, and worked as a paediatrician in Melbourne. Life was relatively comfortable. My brother and I, together with our parents, travelled to the Rocky Mountains. We joined a road tour from Vancouver, it was a slow-paced and relaxed tour. We visited many beautiful lakes. One of them was Lake Louise. This tranquil turquoise-coloured lake, with glaciers as its backdrop, was simply breath-taking. My brother suggested to go canoeing on the lake.
I looked at the vast lake, even though the water was still and soothing, I could not see the shore on the other side of the lake. I felt uneasy and unsettled, “How deep is the water? What if we fall into the water?” After much persuasion and promise by my brother not to venture too far, I agreed to go into the canoe… and of course, we survived, safe and sound.
Afterwards I reflected on this, “At one stage of my life, I was more willing to take risks and was less afraid of the unknown; but when I lived a more comfortable and more affluent life, I was more fearful of failures.”
When we grow accustomed to comfort, we tend to be more fearful of the unknown or failures. A comfortable life often blinds us from embracing obstacles as opportunities. Seeing stability as safety stopped us from leaving our comfort zone.
This does not mean that we should be rash in making decision. We can be both wise and willing to take risks.
There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction. – John F. Kennedy
We cannot discover new oceans unless we have the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Andre Gide (French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature)
Real Life Resilience 