Taking The Risk

"It's better to be boldly decisive and risk being wrong than to agonize at length and be right too late"

~ Anonymous

For many, this will be a year of uncertainty as the economy begins to falter, as the new President of The USA takes office in 8 days time amidst unprecedented world corporation bailouts & worker layoffs. On the local front, we have our Bodowi PM relinquishing his position in March only to have another goon fill the post and with the rest of the government goonies being more interested and frenetically jostling for party posts, rather than discharging their responsibilities and duties to the country and taking care of the wellbeing of us, the "rakyat". Yes, this year will definitely be challenging to many people and many of those people have never had to face some of these types of challenges in this lifetime, especially those who have just entered the workforce and shied away from the parental umbrella.


Many people will be gripped by the fear as they watch the daily news and worry about how their lives will be affected. A portion of them will also be losing their jobs, which will have the domino effect on losing their homes, their cars and their current lifestyles. This stress will not only cause a loss of material things but it will also put pressure on other finances ( the bulging credit card balances and those prepaid Air Asia specials booked way in advance!) and also not-forgetting relationships. My fear will be that many relationships and partnerships will crumble as a result. Some people who lose their jobs will feel lost because they believe their jobs define who they are.


This will indeed be an interesting and arduous time in our history, as our government still continue to live in self-denial with self-distorted economic figures whilst the rest of the world understand that their economies could only get worse before recovering. And how are we to believe the statistical Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the government which put the post-petrol hike inflation at a monthly maximum of 8% ? Even a man-in-the-street with zero knowledge of microeconomics would be able to tell you that the prices of a basic basket of goods (eg. rice, flour) have increased way beyond 30%, with many prices even having doubled. The obvious flaws in governing the economic situation have dampened any trust the ordinary citizens have for their elected representatives. Thus, this will also be the time when many people will have to rely on themselves and make some tough choices as they try to stay ahead of the curve and make the right moves to keep their heads above water and ride out current situation; choices that involve taking a risk.


The word "risk" has an interesting connotation to most people. For most, when they think "risk" they think "danger" or "loss" ; the word "risk" has a negative connotation. I believe that the people who see "risk" as a positive word are in the minority. For that minority, their mind transformation is to take advantage of making the best out of a difficult position and thus, reaping huge rewards. Donald Trump, Evil Knievel, Helen Keller, David Blaine and Nelson Mandela to name a few, were all risk takers ; it is by virtue of the risks they took that we know their names today.


For most of us though (moi included!), the thought of taking a risk can bring on great fear and that fear can be so catastrophic that it paralyzes us and leaves us vulnerable, sitting on the fence between choices. The posture of straddling the fence leaves one in a place of danger because ones feet are not touching the ground and it gets very easy to be knocked off that preverbal fence.


We all have choices to make, most of it which will involve some degree of risk. Some quick and simple suggestions that I've read in assessing risk that could prove to be of assistance are :

• Envision the positive side of risk first and imagine what would be the highest possible good that could occur by taking that risk.


• Then envision the worst possible thing that could happen if we were to take the risk.


• Ask ourselves, could we handle the worst possible outcome of taking the risk?


• If the answer's "yes" (wouldn't like it, but could handle it) then move forward with the risk and envision and be motivated by the best possible outcome, not letting any fear of a wrong decision creep into our minds.


• When we feel ourselves start to falter and we want to turn back to what we perceive as comfortable, remember that walking away from the possible good that could be achieved is far worse than the consequence of failure.

Please remember that it is okay to make mistakes, it is okay to fail, for these are the step stones upon which success is built.

When you need to take a risk, summon up courage and take the risk with a clear vision of the best possible outcome and how much that outcome is worth to you.

After all, healthy risks only spices up our lives and makes it more interesting, right?

With all of the above in mind, I wish to take this opportunity to wish all my blogger friends every success in 2009 and beyond, bearing in mind that this post was thought of and written in response and as a result of reading various obstacles and hurdles i.e relationship, family, financial and work problems faced by some of you wonderful peeps.

"Every Blessing!"