We’ve lost the larger vision that allows us to see possibilities in the muck and mire that often defines our lives. It is no secret that the greatest treasures are found in the most remote, inaccessible and difficult places where we must pursue them with great energy and even greater risk. It’s the same with our lives.
Opportunity as Risk
But will we decide that this New Year will really be new? Will we grab hold of whatever life may throw at us and out of this sordid conglomeration of good and bad strive to fashion something inherently good; even great? Will we strive for something new knowing that it often takes unrelenting energy and commitment to obtain it? And will we risk the endeavor knowing that we may fail; thereby having to cope with all the baggage that accompanies failure? Or will we settle for the security and comfort found in mediocrity because at least it’s safe?
It seems that for many, risk outweighs the desire for change. Risk is just that . . . risk. It can be managed, but not controlled. It has some element of predictability, but it
remains unpredictable all the same. It can work for you or against you; sometimes moving with you and sometimes moving contrary to you. It‘s the stuff that sucks the predictably right out of the very things we desperately wish were predictable. Risk is uncertainty injected into our most vulnerable places. And because that’s the case, we may choose not to risk.
Opportunity Now
And so, what about your New Year? Will you create opportunity rather than just wait for it? Will you see the time as “now” rather than “when”? Will you look for pieces and parts of opportunity in the bad stuff as much as you do the good? Will you be wiling to invest substantial time and energy into order to obtain what you desire? And will you risk even if risk implies vulnerability and possible pain? That’s a long list. Many people say to “no” to one or more of those things. What will you do? What will this New Year look like when we close it out twelve months from now on December 31st of 2012? Grab it and see what happens.
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