Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Do You Take Risks?

Are You A Risk-Taker? 

A few weeks ago I found myself caught up in the National Spelling Bee that was on television. While I know this doesn’t sound like it would be entertaining, it was actually rather fascinating and especially for someone like me who used to read the dictionary for fun. However, it brought back a memory from years ago when I myself was in a spelling bee (the one and only time)...and has been the inspiration for this blog. 

I was in fifth grade, which was probably one of the hardest years I spent in school. My parents were getting divorced, the church I so loved had asked my mother to leave because of the divorce, and everything I knew to be true in my life was turned upside down. As I replayed that memory in my mind, I was hit with a huge awareness…that spell bee was the last time I took a real risk.

Thirty years later? Let me explain more.

The spelling bee was set up into categories, or levels of difficulty and some of it was based on the grade you were in. My memory of the specific details is a wee bit fuzzy after all these years but the outcome of the spelling bee is something I have carried with me for almost thirty years. I only knew one word in the hardest category on the board, but I knew if I got that one word, I would win. How awesome would that be?

Now, as an adult I can look back on this situation and tell you all the reasons why my decision was not well thought-out, nor did I have a solid plan other than my ability to spell the one word I knew correctly. It was risky in every sense of the word. But my ten-year-old spirit had never heard of “calculated risks." She was a risk-taker. 

When I approached the stage, I was asked which category I wanted to pick from…with a mixture of pride and confidence I boldly selected the most difficult category, the category I knew my one word would be in. Congratulations. That was the one word I knew how to spell. And out of thousands of choices, I banked everything I had on the word congratulations.

Oh the irony…

I am sure I don’t really need to tell you that the word I got was not congratulations. I don’t recall what it was all these years later, but I do know it wasn’t what I had planned for. As an adult I can giggle at my naiveté and how silly it was to think that out of millions of words possible I would be so lucky to get the word congratulations.

However, as a ten-years-old little girl, I heard this confirmation about taking risks: congratulations you failed. I was embarrassed and defeated. I was never in another spelling bee, even though I love to learn new words. I never took another risk that I couldn’t control the outcome.

What can I learn from this awareness?

It is amazing to me, how an event like this has stuck with me all these years and deeply impacted my future reality. I had never really thought about why I was uncomfortable taking risks, I just knew I was. And now it all makes so much sense…the question I have to ask myself now: do I stay living in the past with a memory from thirty years ago or do I ditch the emotional baggage? 

As an adult I know this to be true…life is full of risks, some more calculated than others but at the end of the day, you have to be willing to risk it all if you want to live a life you love. Myself included. Are you ready? Let's do it!

Live boldly and unafraid, 
Sarah Michelle 


Author . Coach . Trainer . SpeakerAuthor of Tales of Fried Bologna: A Journey to Forgiveness