Saturday, October 28, 2006
Saturday Oct. 28, 2006 - risk to be lost or found
-5C/23F, a trip downtown; before errands it was great to stop at the Heartland Café for a fresh-outta-the-oven cinnamon bun before Gusta & I walked along the Bow – chilly prospect as fog was just starting to lift; joggers in spandex always make for interesting people watching except for the ones with legs like anorexic shore birds; farmer’s market stop for berries, bagels & bread entertained - excessive makeup, outrageous Halloween costumes on those ‘farmers’ + lots of frightening shoppers too, some in costume
if we ignore risk’s existence, how can we call ourselves alive?
when a person who could enrich our lives, alter the quality of our lives or change the direction or the goals of our life - that is far more than a ‘paradise lost’ or some form of pain or an opportunity for choice; we take the risk of having a life that is not full, neither lost or found it is incomplete
not to say anyone is running on empty, but if we are not striving for full, why bother?
risk is inherently there every moment every day; it’s existence is not our choice but rather an unavoidable inevitable circumstance – there to be lost or found
when I explore someone, I am at the same time exploring myself; sure there is endless story-telling, examination of the issues I think matter, answering questions to satisfy someone else’s curiosity, two people learning lots sometime, just as often – learning little
it can be a new client referral, a date, a potential mate or a casual meeting of someone in a lineup or when we answer a wrong-number call; all of these encounters provide us at least the chance for a Malcolm Gladwell kind of ‘blink’ if not an in-depth interview
recent encounters meeting new people has been joyful or painful or both; those first meetings, first opportunities to spend time together is like visiting a new place for a first time; the terrain is unfamiliar, knowledge of history & local customs must be learned first hand (no guide book), hazards are not marked with warning signs – like looking through a lost & found box having no idea what might turn up; but knowing the thing we were looking for is somewhere else
the issue du jour (every jour) in business is 'is it real, is it worth it, can I win?' while the issue du jour in every personal relationship is 'how does it feel, what are they made of, do I want to know the depths & measure of this person?' . . . which, in many ways is the same whether lost or found
the difference is the indifference – or not – we feel
if a business opportunity passes by or slips away because of disinterest, there will be another along any second now; what might be lost or found comes & goes swiftly
opportunity to fail is everywhere (again, no signs) yet we go for it even though we know how disastrous the costs (human costs having nothing to do with money)
the invitation to explore seems so innocent, the risk so small
innocent, it rarely is
no such thing as a small risk any more than a large one; it is just risk; each day we each take the same one, the same large one
that risk is to make it from wakeup to tomorrow's wakeup in one piece with peace won; we need to arrive at tomorrow alive & thirsting for more
if you buy my premise, your every day is fraught with risks & opportunities without regard for whether you want it to be
unexplored territory & people have so much in common, we may travel where we think we want to go, but we invariably find something else, someone else, somewhere else
it is still me, but I find new dimensions, new direction, new drivers, new goals & new pitfalls every time I look; knowing that, I enjoy looking to find new things in others whether or not they are oblivious to what is changing for them – if they are vital, they will find it
if not, they will find something else
I choose to accept the risk rather than ignore its existence
it does not matter if you say 'I will not take a risk', because you are at risk on so many fronts whether or not you think about or believe you are making a decision about it
life is risk, absence of risk is no life
it is lifelessness
Mark
if we ignore risk’s existence, how can we call ourselves alive?
when a person who could enrich our lives, alter the quality of our lives or change the direction or the goals of our life - that is far more than a ‘paradise lost’ or some form of pain or an opportunity for choice; we take the risk of having a life that is not full, neither lost or found it is incomplete
not to say anyone is running on empty, but if we are not striving for full, why bother?
risk is inherently there every moment every day; it’s existence is not our choice but rather an unavoidable inevitable circumstance – there to be lost or found
when I explore someone, I am at the same time exploring myself; sure there is endless story-telling, examination of the issues I think matter, answering questions to satisfy someone else’s curiosity, two people learning lots sometime, just as often – learning little
it can be a new client referral, a date, a potential mate or a casual meeting of someone in a lineup or when we answer a wrong-number call; all of these encounters provide us at least the chance for a Malcolm Gladwell kind of ‘blink’ if not an in-depth interview
recent encounters meeting new people has been joyful or painful or both; those first meetings, first opportunities to spend time together is like visiting a new place for a first time; the terrain is unfamiliar, knowledge of history & local customs must be learned first hand (no guide book), hazards are not marked with warning signs – like looking through a lost & found box having no idea what might turn up; but knowing the thing we were looking for is somewhere else
the issue du jour (every jour) in business is 'is it real, is it worth it, can I win?' while the issue du jour in every personal relationship is 'how does it feel, what are they made of, do I want to know the depths & measure of this person?' . . . which, in many ways is the same whether lost or found
the difference is the indifference – or not – we feel
if a business opportunity passes by or slips away because of disinterest, there will be another along any second now; what might be lost or found comes & goes swiftly
opportunity to fail is everywhere (again, no signs) yet we go for it even though we know how disastrous the costs (human costs having nothing to do with money)
the invitation to explore seems so innocent, the risk so small
innocent, it rarely is
no such thing as a small risk any more than a large one; it is just risk; each day we each take the same one, the same large one
that risk is to make it from wakeup to tomorrow's wakeup in one piece with peace won; we need to arrive at tomorrow alive & thirsting for more
if you buy my premise, your every day is fraught with risks & opportunities without regard for whether you want it to be
unexplored territory & people have so much in common, we may travel where we think we want to go, but we invariably find something else, someone else, somewhere else
it is still me, but I find new dimensions, new direction, new drivers, new goals & new pitfalls every time I look; knowing that, I enjoy looking to find new things in others whether or not they are oblivious to what is changing for them – if they are vital, they will find it
if not, they will find something else
I choose to accept the risk rather than ignore its existence
it does not matter if you say 'I will not take a risk', because you are at risk on so many fronts whether or not you think about or believe you are making a decision about it
life is risk, absence of risk is no life
it is lifelessness
Mark
339,628
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