Last week I blogged that life is one big risk-taking adventure. You can engage in the adventure or wrap yourself up in a cocoon to emerge just in time to wrap yourself in a coffin. When stated that way, I’m a big candidate for the adventure. The question is how to manage risk as best I can. I say “as best I can” because no one has a crystal ball predicting the future. We all jump off the proverbial cliff when we take a risk. The questions we need to ask are how high is that cliff; what’s at the bottom; do I need a parachute; what’s the pay-off versus risk of jumping or not even jumping at all? The worst thing we could do is jump off blindfolded and hope for the best.

Risk seemed easier to absorb when I was younger. I didn’t have so much too lose. Or I didn’t have enough life experience to know better. Or the adrenaline rush from jumping off the risk cliff was greater than the pain felt when I hit the bottom. I don’t even think I would have classified a lot of the choices I made as risk-taking. I assumed the cars would stop at the red light and I could go safely on green. It was as simple as that. I was in love and wanted to get married; he loved me, what else was there to consider? Move 3,000 miles across country to a town where we knew no one to start a new career; why the heck not? Dye my hair red — well maybe that one was a risk.

I look at risk a little differently now. I’m not afraid to take risks but I am more likely to weigh the options before plunging off a high cliff, or even a moderate one. Let’s just say I’ve gotten a bit wiser, learned from my mistakes. Dr. Ben Carson, a world-famous brain surgeon, approaches risk with what he calls his Best/Worst Analysis or B/WA. Below are the four questions he asks himself when analysing the risk factor of a decision he’s trying to make.

1. What is the best thing that can happen if I do this?
2. What is the worst thing that can happen if I do this?
3. What is the best thing that can happen if I don’t do this?
4. What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t do this?

He notches up his analysis a bit by taking himself out of the middle of the situation:

1. Look at things from other people’s perspectives.
2. Drop the entitlement card and don’t feel that all the rights belong to me.
3. Remove my ego from the equation.
4. Don’t let emotions get stirred up and my actions controlled by reactions to other people, my environment, etc (fear, anger, loneliness and such).

You can read more about Dr. Carson’s approach to risk by reading his book, Take the Risk, 2008, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI). Next Monday I will post inspirational quotes on risk-taking.