Leftover Ideas

pics on Sodahead

      I have friends you refuse to take risks.  They don't even realize they do this.  From games to life, they don't act unless they know that it will either

1. Meet their goal
2. Not cause them pain
3. Be completely in their control

I'll admit I'm a control freak.  I have mild OCD which is behaviorally controlled.  However, if you can't let go you'll never experience the variety of emotions and events that make life full.

     I've done some things that most people I know or have know would never do.  I've moved to towns where I know no one.  I've meet people from the internet in real life.  I ran a 10k.  I've fallen in love with people I've meet at bus stops and people who are married.  The list goes on.  I walked away from one life to lead another.

    Not all of these, in fact most of these did NOT turn out well.  When I moved to TX the first time, I was so homesick and lonely that I all but stopped eating.  Meeting people off the internet contributed to the loss of a good friendship.  The man from the bus stop turned into a crazy person.  However, all of these things have helped me grow and learn and determine what is important to me and who I am.

    Many of them worked out well.  Dating a man who was married helped me understand and accept a part of who I am that had always caused me shame.  Running the 10k made me see that I can do whatever I want athletically if I actually try.  Moving to Rochester put my life in TX in perspective.  Meeting a man off the internet turned into the love of my life.  

     None of the good things would have come without the bad.  When I see my friends made impotent by the fear of the unknown or the fear of not being right the first time, it both makes me sad and frustrated me.  I know they aren't happy and that in order to be, they will have to take risks.  Change is always risky.  Be it talking to people you don't know or deciding to take a course of action where you don't know what will happen.  Letting go and trying and risky failure but also risking success is the only way to truly live your life and be happy.

     Do my a favor, today take a risk.  It doesn't have to be big.  Baby steps, order something different for lunch.  Call someone you haven't talked to in years.  Complement the stranger's shoes, ask for their phone number. Be honest about yourself in a situation you won't normally.  Live a bit differently today and keep doing something different everyday even if you don't know what will happen.