Archive for the ‘risk’ Category

I’m going to take a risk.

Taking a risk is about going out on a limb; about letting go of the outcome; about staying present in the “not-knowing” place between here & now and there & then.

If you’re reading this, you probably have taken some risks in your life. Perhaps they were frightening. Perhaps they worked out great. Perhaps they were frightening AND they worked out great. Perhaps you’re even debating about taking a risk right now.

I’ve been taking a lot of risks over the past several years, and, so far, so good. Well, good enough for me anyway. The ways I’m choosing to live my life might not be comfortable for some, or might not be risky enough for others. It’s up to each of us to determine how much risk we can tolerate. It also gets easier with practice.

I’m taking the risk of starting this blog. I hope that reading it will be enlightening for you; I’m sure that writing it will be enjoyable for me.

I named my coaching practice “Serene Coaching” because it is my goal to help my clients find their way to a sense of serenity.

But I want to share with you the fact that the path to serenity can be full of risks. The path to serenity is the path to self-knowledge; it is the path to self-confidence; it is the path to self-love. The path to serenity calls us to change the direction in which we’ve been headed for a long time. Serenity calls us to let go of our old ways of being, to acknowledge the yearnings within us that we have become so adept at suppressing all this time.

Serenity calls us to step into a life of meaning, a life where we can make a difference in our world just by being who we are. Being who we are can, in and of itself, constitute a risk for some of us. Yet being who we are is a courageous act. Knowing yourself and choosing to show up as yourself is extremely rewarding both for you and for the people with whom you interact.

But, yes, it is a risk. What are we risking when we take the first step on the path to serenity?

Read my next post to learn more…

What do we risk when we choose the path to Serenity?

For each of us, the risks will be different. We may be called to end relationships that are unhealthy for us. We may be prompted to seek a new vocation: something that speaks to our hearts as much as to our heads. We may choose to face into the hard feelings we’ve been avoiding: grief, loss, anger, betrayal. When we risk for serenity, we take a chance at being our authentic selves, even in the face of fear.

But what if that fear is a doorway? What if potential failure in one arena is really a stepping stone on a path to a new one? What if you chose to change — even something small, such as your route to work or how much sleep you get?

Sometimes, even these small choices seem risky. When you feel that little flutter in your stomach, when the choice to do something different seems a little scary — that’s the sign that you’re on the path to serenity, to joy, to getting to have the life you truly desire. Pay attention to those little choices, to that little leap in your heart. That’s the risk. That’s a small taste of Serenity.

And you get to have it.