The biggest risk ever

You may have taken risks in your time, but I wonder how far you'd be willing to push the envelope? The chances you take often fuel the most memorable stories you'll share later in this life or other lifetimes if you come to recall those. Its no surprise that people often find the effort to take chances and go after what is heart and soul-driven is worth far more than any associated regret or 'what ifs' would offer.

As for me, I've taken many risks. They're the reasons why my life is so exhilarating. The story I choose to share now represents one of the biggest risks I ever took. Another person took it with me.  An excerpt is published in a March 2007 book by Keen Publications called "Grab Your Tiger." Reflecting back, from the moment I recall risk is illusion, a distortion of mind, I see all I do, I do for me. Its the faith we are each invited to reconnect with that reminds us we are always whole.

Not too long ago, I met a man briefly on a bus in Florida while I visited Orlando for a conference. We impulsively shared dinner and conversation. The next day, the man boarded a plane to head back home. You might think our story ended. Well, it didn't. We had hit it off and a distance romance ensued. The experience was anything but ordinary. After all, he truly lived on the other side of the world.

Over the next month and a half, regular e-mails and large phone bills evolved. We even wrote a special electronic book together and he edited my draft of an inspirational book which will soon be published. I wrote him more than 500 letters (card stories inside cards) and posted them to his office (I didn't know his post box). I was told the office girls got a kick out of the stamps? The nature of our vast communications soon prompted him to take the chance of his life. While nearly falling asleep on the phone one night, he blurted out,

"Would you meet me for coffee in Paris?” He knew I planned a spring trip to Europe with my sister.

“That’s a long way to travel from Australia when I only have 3 days in Paris,” I replied, thinking he must've been joking. 

He told me he'd been saving for a new stereo, but the trip of 16, 808km would be his preferred investment. I was flattered, but my ticket and travel dates were unchangeable. I suggested we could meet at another time when we both had more time, but he had never been to Europe and decided his work schedule would allow it about when I was traveling. Why would you say? I told him if he came to Paris, I would gladly give him a scenic tour. After all, I'd lived there and knew the area.

Now, if you don't believe in guardian angels, you might change your mind after this story. A few days after that Paris conversation, I received a curious phone call from an airline. A technical glitch in my booking had caused the airline to cancel my tickets. After I got over my initial shock, I managed to negotiate a return ticket 5 days later that the initial plan. Then, I emailed Australia.

The response I received was, “Italy?”

My reply was, “Need you ask?!”

I suggested some key stops for what was planned as a romantic, 8-day train trip (2500km) through France, Switzerland and Italy. When all was said and done, we planned to meet at the Gare du Nord in Paris on a particular date. That day was definitely something to look forward to, or was it? 

Now, before the big day, the last time I'd been to Gare du Nord, I hadn't recalled four exits on separate floors.  Yet, on arrival, that's what I discovered. Better still, I had been stuck in traffic a half hour in a friend's car in terrible traffic and I had no mobile. Imagine my state of mind upon arriving at the train station 40 minutes late to meet a man who had just travelled 14 hours to meet a woman he'd met in person one evening for dinner and one morning for breakfast? Who was taking the bigger risk? Him scaring friends with his impulsive travel spending or me being so inexcusably late?

This in mind, wouldn't you assume that I would have to negotiate my way through the barrier by way of French policemen because my electronic ticket wasn't working? Wouldn't you assume that I would find no functional pay phone to contact my weary traveller? When I did find a crackly phone, I discovered I'd forgotten the number back at my friend's apartment! If you never believed in Murphy's Law, this day would change your mind on that. Nonetheless, patience and faith saved the day. After all that, he recognized me by the back of my hair and my familiar orange dress.

"I was beginning to wonder if the stereo would've been a better choice, but I'm glad I waited."

"So am I."

"You know, until now I'd never waited 45 min for anyone. Risks can really pay off!"

http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2007/9/8/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up.html

http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2008/2/18/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up-2.html

http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2008/7/26/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up-3.html

This story is the foundation for my first book, Self-Disclosure: Changes from Within. 

Lightning bolt

When the day comes that you decide to make a change, it may hit you like a lightning bolt. You may not be used to taking steps to do anything differently than before. And then, an idea hits you. You’re dumbstruck. You think, “Eureka! I’ve it!”  Now is the time to focus on it. The idea is what you work toward. The act of taking a risk may seem daunting. Yet, deep inside, you know that you're ready. You sense its time to move ahead in ways that may shock other people, but that wouldn't bother you. The biggest risk you think you're taking is finally listening to yourself. 

When enough is enough

When you take risks to make decisions, you base your position on a level of satisfaction. If you ask yourself whether you've had enough of something, you question whether your patience has reached its limits, whether your stomach is full, whether your mind is content with the answers it receives. Take a risk to go further.

Consider your pain threshold. How many times will you allow yourself to touch a hot stove when you have already learned doing so results in a burn? How many times will you permit someone to hurt you physically or emotionally before you choose to get out of a situation? How frequently will you accept harsh criticism in a setting before you decide its too self-destructive? Enough is enough!Establish your limits!

Consider your ego. If someone is sacrificing a lot for you, and abandoning a pursuit would be disrespectful or do this person a disservice, would you still be willing to act on pure self-interest? If you convince yourself your self-image and personal control are more important, enough is enough! Think of others' interests too.

Consider your patience. Are you being impatient? Some people wait years or even a lifetime believing relationships will work out or lost loved ones will reappear. Some people also have unwavering faith rain will relieve drought, that business downturns will experience an upswing, that environmental disasters will restabilize equilibrium, that sudden illness will trigger changes in self-defeating habits. Is nurturing faith hurting anyone? Have no faith or patience? Enough is enough! Patience is always within reach.

Consider your sources of sustenance. How is your behaviour influencing your own level of sustenance? If lazing around isn't helping you pay bills or to deal effectively to obtain necessities of life, then you would benefit from a change in attitude and activity. Apathy and lack of self-care can be destructive.  Enough is enough! Decide you'll find a way to improve your situation and do it!

Consider your readiness. You may be preparing for some experience. Learn to give yourself pep talks. What holds you back? Why hesitate to jump out of the plane? Why not speak in front of people or express your opinion openly? If you permit fear to control you, you could lie to yourself about not being ready forever. Enough is enough! You'll be ready when you decide you're ready.

You are what you perceive

Take a risk to see what you cannot see, to hear what you have not heard, to taste what you have never put to your lips, to touch and to feel what you have never felt.  What are the experiences like and what holds you back from exploring them even further than you already have? Who told you that you couldn't? shouldn't? or wouldn't?

Ask yourself why you cling to the ideas that you must fear what you have never done, regret what you have never said, feel guilty about circumstances you cannot change.  What prompts you to make your life more difficult than it is?

Permit yourself to feel all those feelings that may confuse or otherwise trigger sadness, darkness and hardship. Take a risk of letting go of control.  Discover emotions for what they are. What do you sense?  What do they teach you? Consider them all gifts which offer opportunities to learn.

As you take jumps and leaps of faith to explore what you don't understand, you will gain new insight into what you're capable of giving, receiving, creating and encouraging.  Take a risk to remove the limits you have unconsciously self-imposed. Break them down. They'll disintegrate. You may discover that these kinds of steps will re-integrate all that you are, and then some.

Don't shaft yourself

I was asked to reflect on a dream experienced by the colleague of a friend. This individual dreamed he realized that he had an illness and so he anxiously consulted a physician.  The patient felt he was very sick and pleaded with the physician for advice.  The health professional replied, "I'm sorry to say this, but it's apathy."

In reality, people have been known to claim illness as an effort to distract themselves from or escape an uncomfortable situation.  The physician may represent the dreamer's unconscious who recognizes the patient is lying to himself about being sick. He really yearns for some kind of healing, such as a change of heart or a change in the way the dreamer treats other people and himself.  Since apathy is often the suppression of passion, emotion and excitement, the dreamer may be holding himself back from things he truly wishes to do, and may fear taking the risk to do it.  Apathy may also reflect indifference or a lack of concern. The dreamer may subconsciously feel guilty about something he has done or hasn't done.  Acknowledging a perceived problem is the first step to determining how you plan to solve it. 

Reflect on what real-life events might trigger similar feelings. What might you be trying to run away from? Remind yourself that you carry your issues with you wherever you go. Don't shaft yourself.  It makes sense to work through the feelings and siutations that bother you. Take the risk.