The Risk of “Playing It Safe”

Risk and action are not linear. They have a level of convexity to them.

Are you in a career or job that you’re not nuts about?

Maybe you’re up to your spuds in wire spaghetti every day.

Perhaps you’ve managed a team of cashiers for a decade.

Or, you’re a teacher, scraping by in a career of little appreciation and meager living, hanging by a hair telling yourself “teaching is so rewarding” as you scrape encrusted toddler boogers off your desk for the third time this week.
Or maybe they’re teen boogers — people are nasty, man.

How often do we hear the phrase “Someday I’ll retire!” or “Thank GOD it’s the weekend” between sighs while lightless, zombified eyes of the coworker in question stare 1000 yards through you, their soul unwittingly sold into wage-slavery.

We all sip our own Kool-Aid, telling ourselves that after 40–50 years of doing something akin to paid flagellation, enjoying 10 years on a 401k at fractions of our means during the years far past our prime is all worth it.

“That’s Bob,” they’ll say at the funeral between cringing sips of cheap coffee in styrofoam with revolting powdered creamer, “he did 50 years at Such & Such. Gave my department some good deals. WHELP!” knee slap and hugs before departing and never speaking of Bob again.

Inaction and “acceptance of your fate” can be risk-on behavior, in my opinion.

Look — we all need to have a job or two where we “embrace the suck,” wake up in tears and dread every day. It builds character (and skills). But, man is not meant to “live” a meaningless life of 9–5 doldrums doing things we hate.

The risk is this — you’re going to die. No matter how nice you are, how healthy you eat, how rich you are, you’re gonna die. Man toils against nature, but nature always wins.

You only get one shot, one opportunity (the song is now in your head) at this life and then you, your spouse, everyone you know, and I are putrid goo and some bones, six feet down in an expensive, pine box.

We’ve all got something we wonder about and are passionate about. Something we’ve considered doing for our whole lives.

So, ask yourself — what’s the bigger risk?

Attempting something bold, opening up that restaurant, starting that online protein company, or trying your hand acting, going for broke and taking your shot?

Or, playing it safe and dying with the ultimate burden — unfulfilled potential?

Momento Mori.