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!
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
Sarah Michelle
