No matter the risk we take daily; serious or not, every one of us accommodates certain fears. The degree of those fears is determined by temperament, personality type, beliefs, and often childhood conditioning. For instance, I was raised in a decent family where risks are too risky, and for the love of life, we had to settle for what was available. A lot of us have limits set in place (by us or by family) to restrict us from stretching beyond boarders. I have made huge mistakes by taking some risks, but I am better for it. What you fear is stronger than you, and that means you are a slave to your fears until you decide to break loose. Little wonder those who are timid, afraid to stretch, rarely succeed.
Life is built on the foundation of venturing and contending. God, in the beginning, ventured to create this world amidst difficult challenges as it is written;
“…and the world was without form
and void and darkness
was upon the face of the deep.
And God Said let there be light…”
God wasn’t afraid of the darkness and the void he encountered while attempting to create this world – He ventured. If you care to add, He took the risk; you and I are the product of that risk. I dare say those who fear to take risks will always be at the mercy of those who do. Look through your window. I will tell you what you stand to see - the wide gap between those who are ready to take risk and the timid. Fear is the greatest unmaking of losers – the fear of “what if”. This alibi has kept me downtrodden for ages. The good news is that 92% of our fears will never happen.
Here is the result of my research:
* Roughly 40% of what we fear/worry about will never happen
* 30% of what we fear/worry about has already happened
* 23% of our fear/worry is about unfounded things that are still assumptions
* Totally, 92% of things that we fear/worry about will never on earth come to pass
* Only 8% is possible to occur and if it happens, God has given us strength to handle it.
Why then do you fear to venture?
The most prominent fear of this age is the fear to venture because of failed experiences in our past. This fear abounds in nearly every heart since we all have encountered one form of disappointment or another in our lives. I was a victim of many fears, but this fear’s huge and sadly, it spread to everything I do, eating me up like cancer. Many of us will dare stare the devil in the face or go into the proverbial Nigeria's evil forest (I don’t know if it really exists) but cannot risk falling in LOVE again. Possibly you keep asking, “Why should I fall in love when I stand the chance of heartbreak?” “Why travel through the rigors of that part when men are jerks and women are loose?” Why give someone my love when I am not sure if it’s not going to be trampled on?” Many and many more questions might ring in your head, but the truth remains that those who fear failure have failed already, because the hands of the timid attract failure.
I speak also to people who have packed up businesses and ideas because it didn’t work the first time. In the making of an incandescent lamp, Thomas Edison failed about 10,000 times and yet he said, “I didn’t fail 10, 000 time. I successfully eliminated 10,000 errors and combination that couldn’t work.” Success responds to persistence. Take the risk again and who knows, this could be the time that the tide will turn. Shalom.
