Courage and risk

"When you come across the devil, spit in his eye and he mind just turn his back on you.." as goes an old saying. Now if you come to think of it logically, the risk of angering the devil will jump at you. "He might just get angrier with me and cause me more trouble." Or so you would think. But sometimes courage is about just that - not thinking, just acting. Being spontaneous such that risks don't have the time to catch up with you and scare you away. its the thinking that makes you scared.

I caught a 8.08 train at 8.09 today morning. I literally jumped into the carriage through the beeping doors, and I heard them shut behind me the moment I found my footing inside. I don't run to catch trains. Normally that is. I don't take the risk of getting smashed between automatic doors, or as it would appear in the exaggerated image in my mind, when contemplating whether or not to make a dash for the train which is about to leave. But today I had to get into a critical meeting 1.5 hours away, my colleague was already inside the carriage waiting for me, I had no idea when the next train would be - basically I didn't have the time to think. I ran into the station, bought the ticket, ran to the platform and jumped in.

Why did I bring this example up in the context of courage and not thinking. Precisely because of the not thinking bit. I don't know if it was courageous to jump in. I definitely know it was lack of planning and maybe also some carelessness. But it also goes back to the thoughts that crossed my mind after I was settled in the train. That in those moments of action, I wasn't thinking. That I could have missed the train if I walked instead of running. That the train could have left on time than be a minute late. That it could have been on a different platform than the usual one. That I could have been late for a client meeting within 2 weeks of having started a new job. That I could have injured myself.

So it is the thinking that makes me scared. and if I have any courage, its probably when I am unaware of or haven't figured out the enclosed risks. In other words, when I am stupid, I am courageous. like a dog that would go out and make that jump not realising that his adversary is a wolf. Something that should be scared of. But no, he just acts. Just knows he has to face his adversary and fight. Period. I do that too. This is how the situation has turned out to be. and this is what i am doing. full stop. No analysis-causes-paralysis type approach.

Just like when I went couch surfing, I didn't get attacked. Or when I went climbing, I didn't fall off a ledge or break my bone in the snow. Doesn't mean that risks never become reality. I did twist my knee when I went canyoning. I did get lost and freaked out while travelling alone and not being able to find my way around deserted close to midnight. What matters is that it all worked out in the end. things do have a way of working themselves out. As many risks are in our minds as many occur in reality. We can't be reckless, agreed, but we can't make risks the bone of contention before making a choice either.

Try something new, which you know nothing about and have no idea about how wrong it can turn out. Go take that jump today..