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Happiness is…Taking a risk
Are you a risk taker?
In a previous blog, Happiness is…Seizing the Moment, I discussed how traveling brings me happiness. In the blog, I referred to an upcoming cruise to the Dominican Republic and The Turks a few weeks later. Well, it turned out to be an exciting cruise.
The Incident
Our ship was the Carnival Sunshine. If that name sounds familiar, do a word search for Carnival Sunshine, listing.
It was our first night. Judy and I were lying across our bed trying to recover from our second round of gluttony in the last 5 hours, with the hopes we could make it to the 9:30 show.
We heard some items on the shelves sliding. This is common when the seas are choppy. Then the sound of sliding across wood changed to the sound of items crashing to the floor. By this time, it was very obvious we were listing to the starboard significantly. Judy, remarkably calm, asked, “Are we tipping over?”
I went to our window praying I’d see horizon and not water. I wasn’t overly concerned, because I had quickly thought back to my Engineering classes at VA Tech, and I was quite sure we were not yet listing enough to tip over. I will admit that when I looked back and saw ice cubes, from the ice bucket that had crashed to the floor, sliding across the floor toward me, I did have a flashback to the scene in Titanic when the pieces of ice berg were sliding across the deck.
But the listing stopped, at what I estimate to have been about 8%. Unlike the media reports, there were no mass hysterics. We picked up the ice, the glass, and other items from the floor, and went on to the performance.
Admittedly, there were several people that wore their life jackets for the duration of the cruise, and I’m pretty sure some passengers asked the Captain if he would kindly drop them off the next morning as we passed by the Bahamas. But as for Judy and me, we would have eagerly gotten on another cruise immediately, because there’s one thing I am sure of;
You cannot have true happiness, without taking some risks.
So I don’t look at things as risky, I look at the odds.
What’s the chances?
If you cruise, you have one in 6.25 million chances of dying. Those are good odds.
Judy and I fly often. People ask me if I’m afraid of dying in a crash. I tell them, I’m not afraid of dying, I’m only afraid of not living. You have a 1 in 11 million chance of dying in a plane crash. I can live with that.
Compare these to the fact that you have a 1 in FIVE chance of dying from cancer.
So my advice is to not let perceived risk keep you from doing the things that will bring you joy.
Truly happy people surround themselves with happy positive people, so take a risk and cut out, or limit your time with, those toxic, negative, unhappy people in your life.
Truly happy people actually enjoy, and are passionate about, their job or career, so take a risk and tell your boss you’d like to be trained for another position, or after careful study, decide to find a new career that you’d be eager to jump out of bed and go to each morning
Truly happy people are Masters of their finances, so take a risk and plan a family budget. Cut out wasteful spending on electronics and unhealthy habits. The family may not speak to you for a week, but I think they’ll become happier for it.
Truly happy people live happy, active, social lives. So take a risk and get off that couch. Join a civic organization, volunteer to help others less fortunate, or just wish a stranger a blessed day.
Truly happy people live a life of gratitude, so take a risk and stop complaining how hard your life is or how everything that happens to you is someone else’s fault. Realize that the world owes you absolutely nothing, you’re not entitled to anything, and begin showing gratitude for every blessing you receive.
If you’d like to hear more of my ideas on becoming a happier person, please drop me an email at handh_services@hotmail.com. I also invite you to read my other blogs on www.BringingHopeAndHappiness.com
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