taking risks

[welfareloser]

i have a very romanticized notion of risk taking. for a tiny chance at something fabulous, i am willing to risk everything. if it all comes to nothing, and i get absolutely crushed, i still feel good about it, because it was worth the risk. i call it "living life to the fullest."

so am i crazy, or is anyone with me on this one?

[Kim]

I wish I was more like that. I think I am much too cautious.

[styleee]

i do the exact same thing

and even tho i've done MANY dumb things, i can always say that at least i did this or that

i'm still trying to decide if i would be happier if i didn't do things so spasticly

[Grimm]

Good for you! Cities were founded with that attitude!
Las Vegas, Reno, and Monte Carlo to name a few.
Or they were built with the money lost by suckers who fell for it.

Anyway, you should start doing risk analysises.

[xsiled2]

go for it have fun and dont do anything i wouldnt

[Jihforce]

I don't think I could live that lifestyle. Sure, its exciting, but to me, certain things aren't worth the risk.

[zenbooty]

I have sudden overpowering impulses every few years that goad me on to some great unknown. Usually this entails travelling across the country to some new place, or quitting my job and buying a bunch of musical equipment, etc. Other than that, though, I try to keep things low risk. Its fun when you're young to take a "burn out or fade away" attitude (My line was always, "If I live to be 45 then I did something wrong"). But as I aged and saw that those who burned out far outnumber the ones who shine, it changed my philosophy a bit. Now I'm in for the long haul, you could say.

[Mike_N_Ike]

Originally posted by welfareloser
i have a very romanticized notion of risk taking. for a tiny chance at something fabulous, i am willing to risk everything. if it all comes to nothing, and i get absolutely crushed, i still feel good about it, because it was worth the risk. i call it "living life to the fullest."

so am i crazy, or is anyone with me on this one?

Hey...It's better to regret things you've done than to regret things you've never done...right?

[fakesurfers]

I believe in 'calculated risks', I only gamble when I have the advantage. Take a lesson from Vegas. How many of those giant buildings are owned by players of the casino?

[welfareloser]

Originally posted by chosenfool

go take that risk. no what-ifs later on, or shoulda coulda wouldabeens.

that's a good way of putting it. i don't have any regrets, and with any luck, i never will. keeps me calm and happy.

[g222leav]

spastic...don't you guys mean impulsive?

i'd say 50/50 for me, sometimes i do a lot of crazy stuff, sometimes responsibility and conscience unveil their ugly heads.

[mojo]

you know me, welfare...i'm a "seat of the pants" kinda guy. of course the thing has to appeal to me, or else it's just plain dumb. but given that i wanna do something, and it's worth the trade-offs, then hell yeah, i'm so there! i would hate to regret the whole not going for something deal.

sometimes you have to be careful of what you want, tho. if it's only gonna impact me, that's fine. i can't involve others in my whole scheme of pain (read that like "king of pain" by the police). i can't do something really that will change things for my parents, family, or friends. that is where it becomes irresponsible. but then there is also a balance. sometimes life gets sh*tty to a point of no return. you have to punt, and nobody can blame you for that. if life hands you poop...make poop juice (ok, i saw that in the "red meat" cartoon )

short of that, i owe it to myself to try to be happy. who wants to just hang out and wonder what coulda been when you could give it the old college try and at least say "well, it wasnt meant to be" or some other sappy saying than to wonder if it coulda been with a little effort.

nobody can tell you what you have to want, and nobody can judge you for what you want (as long as you're not breaking laws or maliciously hurting others). life is beautiful like that

[g222leav]

hey welfare did posted that lil thing she did with her interview, how she burnt her bridges, taht's pretty ballsy

[welfareloser]

i might as well quit being oblique. here are the two risks i am contemplating:

i plan to go back to school to get a teaching degree. probly oughtta start on that as soon as possible, right? but i also want to give writing a damned good shot before i put it on the back burner. and i just sold my house - after paying off the mortgage and other fees, i will have about $20,000+ from that. when my kid turns three (14 months away) i can put him in quality daycare for only $180 a month - that's NOTHING. daycare before that age will cost $600-$800 a month. so if i get a job and go to school now, i'll work my butt off, never see my kid, and have no extra money to show for it, and i won't be able to write. i know it's horrendously irresponsible, but i really want to live off the profits of my house for the next 14 months, write book #2, take care of my kid, and not pay off my $20,000+ in school loans, and not get started on my future career for another year. irresponsible as hell, but i think it's worth it.

risk #2 - i have a friend who decided to dump his girlfriend. i like the guy a lot. he likes me a lot. we've talked about it a lot lately. he went to see his girlfriend last weekend with the intent of dumping her - i had high hopes for us after our last conversation - and then he came back "mission incomplete." as he put it, she said a lot of reassuring things, and he's not very good at dumping girls (he's never had to do it before; they always took care of it for him, ) and now he's confused. i shoulda cut my losses, but i decided i didn't ever want to regret not saying what i felt, so i told him, with the usual round of disclaimers (i want you to be happy, you need to take your time and make the decision yourself, i'm your friend no matter what you decide, etc.) that i hoped that he would decide that i was worth the risk of breaking up with his gf, because i really wanted a chance with him. the smart thing to do would be to realize that i am on the rebound, that he's probly going to wake up one day and decide that no matter how much he likes me, my baggage isn't worth it when he can get someone without a kid and a divorce, that if he does decide to stay with his gf, i could lose his friendship, that if he stays with her and she finds out, she's going to REALLY hate me, etc. i am risking personal humiliation. i am risking getting really hurt by not just saying "hell with it, i don't care" right now. he is going to give it some time to see how his gf behaves - absolutely agonizing for me, and i could avoid the pain by just not being emotionally invested in him right now. but i like my emotions. so, i said what i had to say because i think he is worth the risk.

one thing that was not a risk was the break up with my husband. things have been sh*t for over two years now, and i hung in there and gave it my best shot and now it's time to cut my losses. i now have amazing amounts of free time now that i don't have to listen to him b**ch about me several hours a day, and lo and behold, my kid has magically given up whining and grousing and hitting - he has been little mister sunshine. big surprise. i play the fiddle and he plays the mandolin. we put on erasure really loud and sing and dance on the sofa and table. i don't have to plunk him in front of the tv in order to have time to argue. i got a solid four hours worth of writing done last night from 8pm to midnight. life is good.

so, that's my story. hope it wasn't too boring

[xsiled2]

get teaching degree and move to south hampton u makin like 80k for it there

[BigJon]

Everything is starts with a risk . . .

Take the Wright Brothers for example, what if they decided it was too risky to fly a plane?

[mojo]

Originally posted by welfareloser
i might as well quit being oblique.

risk #2 - i have a friend who decided to dump his girlfriend. i like the guy a lot. he likes me a lot. we've talked about it a lot lately. he went to see his girlfriend last weekend with the intent of dumping her - i had high hopes for us after our last conversation - and then he came back "mission incomplete." as he put it, she said a lot of reassuring things, and he's not very good at dumping girls (he's never had to do it before; they always took care of it for him, ) and now he's confused. i shoulda cut my losses, but i decided i didn't ever want to regret not saying what i felt, so i told him, with the usual round of disclaimers (i want you to be happy, you need to take your time and make the decision yourself, i'm your friend no matter what you decide, etc.) that i hoped that he would decide that i was worth the risk of breaking up with his gf, because i really wanted a chance with him. the smart thing to do would be to realize that i am on the rebound, that he's probly going to wake up one day and decide that no matter how much he likes me, my baggage isn't worth it when he can get someone without a kid and a divorce, that if he does decide to stay with his gf, i could lose his friendship, that if he stays with her and she finds out, she's going to REALLY hate me, etc. i am risking personal humiliation. i am risking getting really hurt by not just saying "hell with it, i don't care" right now. he is going to give it some time to see how his gf behaves - absolutely agonizing for me, and i could avoid the pain by just not being emotionally invested in him right now. but i like my emotions. so, i said what i had to say because i think he is worth the risk.

you forgot to ask me if you could tell everyone . and i said that i "might" break up with her. but then again, i was thinkin about starting a harem. i was hoping you could start bringing home your girl friends again

[Kim]

Originally posted by welfareloser

one thing that was not a risk was the break up with my husband. things have been sh*t for over two years now, and i hung in there and gave it my best shot and now it's time to cut my losses. i now have amazing amounts of free time now that i don't have to listen to him b**ch about me several hours a day, and lo and behold, my kid has magically given up whining and grousing and hitting - he has been little mister sunshine. big surprise. i play the fiddle and he plays the mandolin. we put on erasure really loud and sing and dance on the sofa and table. i don't have to plunk him in front of the tv in order to have time to argue. i got a solid four hours worth of writing done last night from 8pm to midnight. life is good.

It always amazes me what kids that young pick up on. Just the fact that his behavior has improved so much is a good indicator that you are doing the right thing.

I was going to say that you could help the new guy along with his breakup by maybe leaving a pair of unmentionables in his couch before his next date with her...but that would just be too mean, and everyone knows that I am an ! Seriously, I hope it all works out for you. Good luck!

[Grimm]

Go to school, get the degree. Write in your spare time. Don't fritter away your nest egg. You can still write and go to school. Just not as much as you would like. Schedule a couple hours of personal time a week. Write durring that time. It's a good way to take a break from everything else around you.
If you can save some of that money for Evil Gremlin's college you will be proud of yourself later.

As for your personal life, you have to do as your concious dictates.
Good luck.

[Loki]

I agree that people should take risks. It's the only way to succeed in this world. Though I don't believe that you should take risks where you put everything you have on the line. You can take caculated risks where if they go bad you won't be hurt much.