Are you a risk-taker?
Herodotus, sometimes called the “Father of History”, wrote the first history book in the West. He observed the following:
“Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.”
Language Notes: 1) “deeds” means “actions”; 2) ”wrought” is old English (we don’t use it in speaking) but we will read it sometimes. It means to make or do something with great effort.
When we look at history, this quote seems obvious. But isn’t it true in our own lives, too? When we are bold, we may fail, but sometimes good things happen too. We may meet someone special by taking a risk. We might improve in a skill, when we try to learn even though we lack confidence. Or we could get a better job just by having the courage to speak out and express a new idea.
In my life, I think I took a risk to learn languages. Even though I don’t use French much, and I’ve forgotten a lot of what I learned in Spanish and Japanese, all of my effort made me a better teacher. I took a chance with a certain woman, and in that case I failed, but that is life, isn’t it? (We win some and we lose some!) Now I am looking for a new job for the next school year in September - should I try to stay in China or go back to the U.S. to teach? Or I could go to another country where I could learn a new language! I might not make much money, but it would be interesting. Am I ready to take that risk?
And what about you? Are you naturally a risk-taker? Or do you hesitate to try new things? What risks have you taken in your life? What were the results? Are there any risks you would like to take right now? Do you think, in the end, that risks are worth it? Maybe we should just be careful all of the time.
That reminds me of another great quote (I do not know who said it):
“Ships in harbor are safe, but that is not what ships are for.”
So now the question is, are you a ship?
mei chin Said,
April 16, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
Teacher Joe! would you like to come to Taipei Taiwan? I had watched your speech contest and; your chinese pretty well. here in Taiwan we need english teacher just like you . we have many kinds of dialects that worth to learn,also the people here are very friendly and variety of foods that you will like it .I’m welcome you. will you?
teacherjoe Said,
April 17, 2008 @ 12:20 am
Hi Mei Chin,
Unfortunately, my Chinese is very limited. I can communicate in basic Chinese and I can read about 500 Chinese characters, but that is not enough, in my opinion. I have visited Taipei once and I enjoyed it very much. I am not sure what kinds of jobs would be good for me there, however. I am now hoping to teach in an elementary school, although I have taught every age group in the past. I will have to look into it more…
Nafis Said,
April 26, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
In my opinion,taking risks are worth it. We can go further and be stronger in coming events in the future.
I think if I had grandchildren and I wanted to talk about my life story.What would i say ? Would I say I always scared of oppurtunities in my life? What kind of person I was? so, I hate being scared and I think life is fighting with our weaknesses and getting more confidance.
Wimiw Said,
April 29, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
I like this passage. It is like the philosophy that is able to be useful for our life. We can improve our life for some event and get much confidence than ordinary.