Risky Business

The biggest risk is not taking one

This week we are finally have some nice weather here in Salt Lake City, mid 70's and i've already got my first sunburn after doing homework outside today. I just couldn't be cooped up inside.

Time is just a flyin' by and in just two and a half weeks the semester will be over! Although i'm excited to be done with the courses i'm taking, I don't have the kind of loathing that I have experienced before by the end of the semester. Typically by the time finals week arrives I want to throw in the towel and give up on school but I feel like i'm finally finding my niche in school and actually enjoying what i'm learning. Studying still may be a pain, but it is fulfilling to put in the work and see how much I learn.

After having a conversation this week with one of my close friends about careers, it had me thinking the rest of the week about the reasons we choose what we do, and why people end up where they do.

I was, and still am on occasion, on the fence about what I want to do with my life professionally. The only thing that makes me more sure of my decisions now, is that I know in the end ultimately I choose how I want to live. At the end of the day work is important and I still want to be passionate about it but I don't want it to be the only thing i'm passionate about. I don't want to miss out on living the rest of my life. I keep wondering and wishing for an experience to get out of my hometown for awhile to meet new people and experience something new. Then I look at my pre-planned life and think, "I don't have time to do that! I've got to do this, this and this within this amount of time, I don't have any connections that would lead me out of Salt Lake, I have security here. etc. etc. etc."

and it all comes down to...

that it's too risky.

And then, I know or read about all of the people who have taken risks and it's all been OKAY. Whether they succeeded or failed, they are better because of it. The book "Wild (From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail)" by Cheryl Strayed which I finished this last weekend fueled my inner wanderlust. It is about a woman who finds her life in shambles and decides to backpack 1,100 miles from California to Washington by herself. It was inspiring to read her memoir of finding herself that I yearned to do the same. She took and uncountable number of risks all of which she knew could end uncomfortably and learned tremendously from each.

So this week I have decided...

I want to be a person that takes risks.

Maybe, I want to try living in Seattle, even though i'll probably end up paying 4 times the rent I would in Salt Lake.
Maybe, I want to move the south where I can wear cowboy boots, get a little country, eat fried chicken n biscuits.
Maybe, i'll do a humanitarian trip to Costa Rica for a few months and learn Spanish.
Maybe, i'll buy a house.
And just maybe, at the next random opportunity i'll say yes instead of no.

I know i'm going to make mistakes, and I know all risks aren't going to have a positive payout. But if you're not making mistakes, you're not living enough.

Besides, I read somewhere that making mistakes while you are younger makes it much easier to bounce back if you fail. I've got a little to lose but more to gain. 

So now you're probably wondering when i'm going to just up and move away, or study abroad again, or invest in something risky. Well, there is such a thing as calculated risk and timing. I'm hopefully beginning that preparation now so that when I know the time and the risk is right i'll make that leap of faith.