THE KNIFE THAT BLEEDS
The knife that bleeds the most,
is the dullest of them all.
Do not fear the sharpest,
for it lessens your suffering.
The poem above, if at all I can call it that, came to me in a dream. If the meaning escapes you, do not worry, I didn't get it at first either, but you will understand it in just a moment if you read on. We live in a society where we are more often than not, told to play things safe. Most of us, and perhaps you as well, do not like risk. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what specifically is it about risk that generates that feeling of unease with in you?
If you hate risk, and if you try to avoid it by all means, the actual risk itself is not the real problem. So what could the problem be? Your real problem is not risk, your real problem is the unknown. We fear what we do not know, and fear is one type of pain. Obviously it is not a physical pain, although it does have an effect on your body, but it is a pain nonetheless. We tend to hate the things that cause us pain.
Have you ever eaten something that tasted really bad, or had an odd or unexpected texture? Would you say that you hate that particular food? That unexpected or odd texture and that bad taste are painful experiences right? And so you dislike that food because it caused you pain.
If somebody you have never met walked up to you and said mean things about you, spat at you, punched you and laughed at you as you ran off to safety, are you more likely to like this stranger or would you develop a hatred for them? Alternatively, what if this same stranger, instead of doing all these bad things to you, said something that made you laugh and enjoy yourself so much that an our passes in mere moments. How does that change how much you like or dislike the stranger?
Our brains are wired in such a way as to attract us to the things that give us pleasure (get your mind out the gutter for a moment), and repel us from the things that cause us pain. When we see risk, we see the potential for pain, and the brain will push you away from things that have the potential to cause you pain, and so we tend to shy away from it, and play it safe instead.
Nothing is guaranteed. Not even playing it safe. Every knife can cut you, but it is the bluntest of the knives that will cut you the most, because it lulls you into a false sense of security. Playing it safe is the riskiest thing you can do, because you never consider what could go wrong due to the fact that things seem to always go right. In 2008, countless numbers of people who played it safe were ruined financially. Those who took risks were also hurt. The thing though is that those who took the risks are back to the success they had before, simply because taking those risks taught them the lessons they needed to create their own success. Those who played it safe, on the other hand, are for the most part no closer to the success they envision for themselves. Those who willingly take on risk, do everything to understand that risk and they find a way to counter it. Those who do not take risk, never examine what things can hurt them.
Do not take the knife that bleeds the most. In the words of Theodore Roosevelt:
Theodore Roosevelt Quotes. Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.