Risk Everything - A Few More Thoughts

Risk Everything - A Few More Thoughts

I have a few more thoughts on a previous article Dive In: The Artist’s Call to Risk Everything

What holds us back from diving into something new? Often, it is our sense of self-importance or our carefully constructed self-image. We hesitate because we don’t want to acknowledge our own inadequacies—our clumsy beginnings, our puny smallness. The discomfort of groping in the dark, fumbling with uncertainty, unsettles us. We fear that struggling through the unknown might shake our confidence, make us feel exposed, or reveal how little we truly know. It is a fear of confronting our limitations.

But there is another way to approach this. What if we left ourselves—our expectations, our worries, our need to be competent—out of the equation? What if we engaged without the weight of self-judgment, without the need to prove anything to ourselves or others?

Imagine stepping into an experience not as someone who must master it, but simply as one who is present, observing, and learning. What if we embraced uncertainty as a natural state rather than a failure? This shift in thinking allows us to move with more fluidity and ease, to explore without fear, and to grow without resistance.

The hesitation we feel is not a warning sign to turn away but an invitation to dive in. It asks us to relinquish control, to release our attachment to how we appear, and to simply participate. When we stop worrying about how we measure up, we free ourselves to move forward. The practice of this creates resilience and inner strength and above all sharpened intuition. It is a superpower.

So let go of the weight of self and the burden of self-imposed expectations. Step into the unknown, not as someone who must be certain of the outcomes, but as one who is willing to discover something on the fringes of the unexplored.

Related article: Creative Selflessness

Related article: The Ant and the Elephant