What Taking Risks Taught Me About Myself

 

     Over the course of my year as a twenty-one-year-old young adult, I have taken many risks.

    I dressed up as my CEO on Halloween. I placed a live crab on top of a cake for a white elephant gift. I baked cookies for a guy and gave absolutely no reason at all.

     These small but significant actions were some of the most creative risks I took.

     All of them caused me a bit of nerves the night before and a bit of nausea the day of, but I made it through them and lived to tell the tale. These were not foolhardy risks like jumping off bridges or setting things on fire or any of that textbook dangerous type of risk.

     Instead, with each risk, I set out to be fully myself and not hold back.

     In doing that (and surviving), I freed my mind to be comfortable with a wider range of situations. (I kept my position as an intern and got hired full-time afterward because of that Halloween stunt.) I'm bolder in the way I do little things because those things no longer cause me to be fearful. (Trust me, nothing is scarier than moving a live blue crab onto a cake covered in blue icing.) I'm more courageous in the daily challenges too like dishwashing, plant-parenting, and awkward-conversation-having. They don't phase me a bit. (Not after handing over those cookies!)

     Taking medium-sized risks now will allow me to take bigger risks in the future: Spontaneous road trips turn into spontaneous moves. Buying a car turns into buying a house. Agreeing to forgive someone turns into agreeing to a first date.

     We literally never know what the future will bring if we step out and take a small risk.

     And there is nothing I would encourage you to take risks in more than growing in your faith. Seek out community and accountability—even when it's awkward. Take something in your schedule and replace it with time with God—even if it doesn't make logistical sense. Start serving someone in need faithfully—even as you are tempted to slack off.

     While there is nothing you can do to earn your salvation, there is so much you can do to live a life of thanksgiving and fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ. He's worth a bit of risk.

~

     May I send you out from here with the following blessing?

     May you be stronger than you believe. May you be more thoughtful than you perceive. May you be authentic rather than achieve.

~Madeline