Fear is a feeling that overwhelms us with the possibility of failure– Ayobami Abiodun
Read Part 1 here
When I was a student, any time we are in Harmattan season, we don’t like to take our bath in the morning because it’s always cold. Those days when we have lectures in the morning, we will boil water using an electric kettle, pour the water into our bathing bucket, and mix the hot water with normal water (cold water), so that we can bath with warm water.
When we pour the water from the kettle into our bucket and mix it will normal water, we will first deep our hand into the water to ascertain if the temperature of the water is ok for us, then we proceed to use the water to take our bath. What are we doing when we dip our hand into the water? Of course! We are simply testing the water temperature. Are you aware that pouring the water on our body was a risk? Though we already have an idea of how the warm water should feel on our skin because we dipped our hand into the water when mixing, but that does not guarantee that the water temperature is ok for our body.
Several times, when we pour the water on our body, it feels hotter than expected, so we will quickly add more water. Dipping our hand into the water was our way to acclimatize ourselves. This can be categorized as an example of Constructive Risk. Though we don’t know the outcome effect of the water when we eventually pour it on our body (risk means doing something of which you are not sure of the outcome), but taking that step alone had given us the platform to reason if the risk we are about to take (pouring the water on our body), worth it. After reasoning, we decide to take the risk by pouring the warm water on our body.
Constructive risk encourages reasoning. Even though you can’t ascertain the result; you can prepare for the outcome of the result and plan ahead of the outcome. If you refuse to take a constructive risk, there will be damages, and it might be too late to repair those damages. We have heard of many people that took risks and lost everything. They were once rich, but now they are extremely poor, once healthy, but now with diseases such as hypertension, stroke, heart failure. etc. The risk they took was not constructive, so it caused damages to them. Constructive risk will never cause any damage even when it fails.
Back to my illustration: Any student that refuses to take a constructive risk during Harmattan season (i.e acclimatizing themselves by first dipping his/her hands into the water) is at the expense of danger. If they just take the risk of pouring water on their body immediately after mixing the hot and normal water, they run the danger of being burnt or their skin peeled. Yes, they also mixed the hot water with cold water, but not analyzing/ calculating the quantity of water required, they will expose their body to skin damage.
If they pour the water on their body, and it peeled their skin due to the degree of hotness of the water, they won’t be able to add more normal water to the water inside the bucket because they can’t continue to take their bath again. They will have to leave the bathroom with sores all over their body, unlike those that took a constructive risk, even if it turns out to be still hot on the skin, it won’t be to be extent of causing sores on their skin (damage), they will only need to add more normal water and continue bathing.
For everybody that takes constructive risks, when s/he fails, s/he will move on. His/her world will not stop at that very moment because s/he failed. S/he will be able to guide and coach people, therefore there won’t be any damage caused instead wisdom will be gained (wisdom from experience), but for those that take just any risks, they always have a scar that remains permanently with them. When they lose, their life stops that very moment, everything becomes damaged beyond repair.
Before taking any risk, always ask yourself: Does it worth it? If your answer is yes, then proceed to take the risk, but if your answer is no or you can’t boldly say yes, perhaps your heart skips and you start to breathe fast anytime you ask yourself the question or you feel insecure or maybe something starts pricking you, even though you can’t figure out what it is, then don’t take the risk.
Please note, fear is different from feeling uneasy. Fear is a feeling that overwhelms us with the possibility of failure; its campaign “what if” and magnify “uncertainty” while feeling uneasy is an indication that something can go wrong or something is wrong, so it is left for us to reason and figure out what could probably go wrong. It is normal to be afraid of taking risks, but fear does not indicate that the risk does not worth it. On the contrary, fear could be an indication that the risk worth it
We are always afraid anytime we are faced with uncertainty and risk is a game of uncertainty, so you should always expect that you will be afraid to take risks. On the other hand, feeling uneasy could be your clue to salvation: to save yourself from taking just any risk. Often time, our instinct also does a great job in leading us as it gives us signs and initiates reasoning with us. Instinct is very strong and it always gives an indication that something needs evaluation.
Instinct is totally different from fear. If you are afraid of taking risks, I mean constructive risk, know that it is normal, but don’t let your fear hinder you from taking a constructive risk. Take the risk anyway: Overcome your fear and take the bold step. And if you can’t overcome your fear, just do it even being afraid. The secret of overcoming fear is “just do it”. Just take the first step and fear will disappear. Great men also deal with fear anytime they are about to take a step in life or make changes, but they have mastered the act of fear and know how to efficiently manage their fear. If what you feel is fear even when you know the risk worth it, then be rest assured that you are on the right track and you are about to unlock your success.
I strongly believe in risk, but taking any risk that comes to me is foolishness. I don’t need to dwell more on my thought before taking a risk, I just have to ask myself a question “does this risk worth it” if my answer is ‘yes’, then I will take the risk. I know for sure that even if I lose I will be empowered to guide others through the wisdom I gained from the experience because I took a constructive risk
There is more than enough risk in this world. Life itself is also a risk; we live our life by taking risks. We go out/do our daily activities and sleep. We take the risk of not seeing the next day. Even though we know we are mortals and can die anytime, we still always take risks and even plan ahead of our uncertainty. So why do we take the life risk? The answer is not far fetched, It is simply because ‘Life worth the risk’. When we take the risk of sleeping; some wake up while some do not wake up. Life is a risk that we all take on a daily basis because we know it worth the risk. Take a risk, a risk that worth it (constructive) so that you can unlock success.
