Risk - No Longer a Four Letter Word

What words do you think your children will remember you saying to them?  Do you send them out the door with a special saying?  I think my kids will remember me asking "Do you have a coat with you?" whenever they walked out the door.  Hmmm...maybe I could have come up with something a little more inspiring. :-(

I was talking with my friend, Jody, the other day. She is the mother of two small children.  Somehow we got on the topic of the values we want to pass on to our children and how those values had first been passed on to us by our own parents. 

With most of her child rearing days still ahead of her, Jody was telling me of some of the things she and her husband want to instill in their children while they are still young. She said that one of the things they tell their kids every day when they drop them off at child care is "Take a risk today."

I was stunned by the wisdom in that simple sentence.  There is an implied, yet clearly understood support that underwrites those words.  In encouraging their children to "take a risk,"  Jody and her husband are saying it's okay to reach beyond what is comfortable and known. That it's a good thing to do, even if they fail. And should they fail, mom and dad will be right there to support them.  What a marvelous gift! 

One of my favorite movies is "You've Got Mail."  I've watched that movie countless times, and there is one scene that always stops me cold.  Kathleen Kelly is describing her life to Joe Fox in an email. This is what she writes:  "Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Shouldn't it?  I think so.  I remember my mother telling me that I was "always a cautious child." I've
always chosen safety over bravery, security over risk. And because of that, I've missed out on so much. 

Yet in the past couple of years...after watching my children grab hold of life with both hands and embrace risk... I have begun to stretch myself.  It is often in small ways. Ways that others might not notice or even consider a "risk."  But I know.  And I know that it requires me to be a little braver than I like to be.  And I'm happy to say, I can see where it's making a difference.

My daughter shared a saying with me that I have posted at my desk at work.  I read it often. It says,  "To live without risk, is to risk not living."   I think I'll try to follow Jody's advice and "Take a risk today."