Risk Taking or Reckless?
I am filled with crazy ideas. Constantly coming up with more and more outrageous things in my mind. I am a dreamer. I enjoy taking risks. One of the biggest problems though that I’ve had with this personality trait is the follow through on the ideas. My bedroom is filled with halfway finished ideas and accomplishments. I have 2 half-knitted blankets. I have a guitar that I’ve only attempted to play a few times. So many things I haven’t followed through on.
One of the biggest things I’ve begun though is apply for and get accepted into graduate school. The details are overwhelming because they are all important. Visa paperwork. Housing. Course requirements. Plane tickets. Etc.
The masters program I have been accepted into is ran by the European Union/Commission. It’s called the NOHA+ program. I will be earning a Masters in International Humanitarian Action. Exciting stuff. This should enable me to get a paying position in the field of helping people internationally. It also should let me pursue my passion of helping people achieve what they are capable of. Also I should learn how to help people sustainably. Big things. However, one of the most exciting things about this program is also its most complicated. I’ll be in a different country and at a different university each semester. My first semester and last semester will be in Malta. I just found out last week that my second semester will be in Spain. I won’t know where my third semester will be until closer to the end of my first semester. Ideally this semester will be a work placement, but I have no idea what it will be yet.
This degree will be one of the biggest risks and one of my craziest ideas to date. I’m beyond excited and terrified. The overwhelming optimism that I had when I was getting ready to move to China two years ago isn’t there. It might be because of now knowing what it can be like living internationally. It might also be because I’m almost 25 and am recognizing the risk that I will be taking for what it is. Also the fact that I haven’t really traveled in months is slightly overwhelming when I’m looking at how much traveling I will be doing for the next 2 years as apart of my degree. Emotions and stuff.
However, one thing I’ve discovered is that this is the perfect time to take risks in my life. I’m still young. The payoff has the potential to be worth it, and if I fail, I still have a lot of time ahead of me to learn from everything. Taking risks isn’t always about being brash and reckless, but it is about stepping forward boldly after looking into all the details you can. How can you become something great or chase your dreams if you never take a risk? Hint. It will never happen. One of my life goals has been to not regret anything. And honestly I’m doing pretty good at that right now. All of the big decisions I’ve made I feel good about. I’ve done my share of things that I believe are stupid, but I can’t really regret them because they’ve led me to where I am today. And I’m okay with that. I have to be. I can’t change that.