Thomas Merton: Have The Courage To Make A Fool Of Yourself

Do you sincerely want to grow?

To grow as a person?

To grow as a spouse?

To grow as a parent?

To grow as that child of God you were meant to be?

Well then, you have to take some risks.

Serious, life-changing, too-scary-to-look-back, risks.

Risks that are worthwhile, calculated, and thoughtful.

But be prepared to make a fool of yourself.

There is no growth without risk.

And there is no risk without the possibility of failure.

I’ll let Thomas Merton lead the way:

One of the greatest obstacles to your growing is the fear of making a fool of yourself.

Any real step forward implies the risk of failure.

And the really important steps imply the risk of complete failure.

Yet we must make them, trusting in Christ.

If I take this step, everything I have done so far might go down the drain.

In a situation like that we need a shot of Buddhist mentality.

Then we see, down what drain?

So what? . . .

We have to have the courage to make fools of ourselves

And at the same time be awfully careful not to make fools of ourselves.

I can’t think of two more important sentences about risk-taking than those last two.

The late, great Jim Rohn remains one of my business heroes. He had some great additional advice about taking calculated risks (click on the embedded image below). And he reminds us that navigating through life always requires some risk – even if your only goal is to remain in bed all day!

My hope for you today is that you take the risk of looking like a fool.

Peace

Image Credit: Pixabay.com