ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS IS FREE

Daddy once told me I'm a risk taker, am always taking gambles.. and more often than not, succeed!
Never thought of myself as a "risk taker," but after some reflection I realized Daddy is correct!
I have taken the following risks:

• being a single-parent at 21
• completing my undergraduate studies.. took me some time, but I did it
• returning to court for increased child support
• pursued/completed my masters via weekend program @ Our Lady of the Lake, commuting to San Antonio while working 40 hrs/week.. Graduated with Honors Cords representative of my induction to the International Sociology Honor Society Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD)
• willingly & passionately facing and/or taking on daunting challenges regarding issues of importance to me

So, as I often do with my search for quotes, etc. I Googled "taking risks" finding a poem that not only speaks to me, it's also tells others who I am...


ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS IS FREE
by Author Unknown


To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach for another is to risk involvement.
To expose your ideas, your dreams,
     before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the
     greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The people who risk nothing, do nothing,
     have nothing, are nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
     but they cannot learn, feel, change,
          grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes they are slaves;
     they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.


~ Page 147 of the book Addiction by Prescription by Joan Gadsby ~