"To live is to risk dying. To do is to risk failure.
To laugh is to risk appearing a fool. To love is to risk not
being loved in return.
To cry is to risk appearing soft and sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement or rejection.
To place your ideas, dreams, and desires before people is to risk
ridicule.
The greatest omission in life is to risk nothing. The person who
risks nothing gets nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid
suffering, pain and sorrow, but he does not learn, grow, live, or
love. He is only a slave - chained by safety - locked away by
fear. Only a person who is willing to risk, not knowing the
results, is alive."

- Anonymous


I have always given 110%, usually to causes, people or relationships that didn’t deserve it of me… and many, many times I’ve been told that I only hurt myself in the end by being too open and too trusting, but I have seen what becomes of the ones who hold back in their comfort zone.. I have a couple friends who have spent nearly their whole life in that comfort zone and yes, they have rarely been walked on & mistreated, and, yes, they have not shed so many tears as I have and seem mostly unaffected by the pain I often feel… but there is something else they suffer from instead.. For the safety they enjoy, one has become jaded and the other an old maid far before her time. They can’t seem to comprehend the simple joy I find in many things, and don’t understand the depth of emotion I experience. They think I’m silly, melodramatic, over-emotional. The first refuses to admit she cares about people, deems every lover “un-worthy” to keep herself from falling for them, and is sometimes drawn into relationship she knows are unhealthy and will fail. The second ages rapidly before my eyes. I watch helplessly as we have less and less in common, my frustration growing, wondering how I can help her.. She seems so closed off to new things and unusual experiences & it seems to me she misses so much by holding to what she already knows. And she never has anyone to love.. no one to hold her, adore her and I fear she will never know the amazing gamut of emotions that comes with being in love….

I have been hurt, abused and broken-hearted many times, but I would rather be forced to deal with that pain and heal my heart again than remain safe and unaffected, missing the emotion, beauty, rapture.. euphoria.. that come before the pain. I say to you “Do not be afraid! Live your life! Tis better to learn from mistakes than never make any!”