Words That Can Haunt Me, Part 5: Risk

I've resisted writing this post because for me, the word risk is fraught with so much baggage. Playing it safe (aka being risk averse) has never been part of the life story I've constructed. Yet when I look at some of my biggest life choices, it's hard to square my story with the facts.

It's not that I've taken no risks in my life. However, my choices when it comes to taking any risk with money have been negligible. And after age 35, the same thing applies about risk I took vis-a-vis work or what can only loosely be called my "career". In those domains, I played it very safe indeed.

Risk in my relationships? I'd call that a mixed bag. But I'm afraid saying I've taken a lot of risk in that area would be stretching it. How about you? What has been your relationship to this tricky word? Equally important, what stories have you created around the word? And what impact have those stories had on your choices?