"What have you got to lose?"
Said with hands raised and shoulders shrugged, a quisical expression creasing your forehead.
Sounds frighteningly like a dare.
And though in itself, the phrase doesn't really reflect 'wisdom', especially of the infallible variety, it's potency in many situations is hard to ignore. In its own way, it's making you stop and think about the question. What HAVE you got to lose? If its something dear to you, then you think better of it and continue without tempting fate. However, if when you really search for that one thing you will lose and come up empty, it makes you wonder whats holding you back.
And the action of thinking before reacting is a time-honored tradition of those with infallible wisdom. Of course.
But what have I got to lose? ...Not pride, I don't think losing some pride would really hinder my lifestyle. I have a bit to spare, anyway. I highly doubt that any decisions I may even CONSIDER making would force me to lose friends. I also doubt that I would lose my mind, since I like to keep a few servings of crazy on hand in case of emergencies.
So... what IS holding me back?
Food for thought. Hm.
Oru
I've found myself thinking that very same thing a lot recently. Sometimes it scared me when I realized that I really didn't have anything to lose, not even things that I could do without compared to what I might gain.
ReplyDeleteIn the past I have used this line of thought to "dare" myself into doing some things. I do not regret any of the things that I have done, and in fact, I am a better person because of those experiances.