To laugh is to risk appearing a fool
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out for another is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk rejection
To place your dreams before a crowd is to risk ridicule
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds
is to risk failureBut risks must be taken
because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing
does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrows,
but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or love.

Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave -
he has forfeited his freedom.

Only a person who takes risks is FREE

Oh before I forget – Today’s power exercise is.

When you recall an unhappy experience, you may think of it as completely negative -

* Something which you don’t want to have happen again,
* Something which you ’suffered’.

When you do this, it means that you have not learned the lessons that your experience offers you. Because you haven’t learned the lessons, you cannot apply them in your future. You can become wary of new experiences and you may shut off your willingness to experience new and better things.

Exercise.

See if there are some experiences from the past that you could learn from. Take a day or a few hours to review it from different perspectives then make notes of what you could or should learn from those past experiences. Start out with experiences that are not too emotional then see if you can move to more emotional experiences.

If you find that you are overwhelmed with emotion simply see if you can watch the emotions and memories like watching a movie on TV and notice what you can gain from the experience.

Also ask yourself “Could I allow this feeling/emotion to be as it is for the moment?” A yes or no answer is just fine here.

More exercises will follow daily. To your power!

Brendan