What constitutes a risk you might ask? For me it’s about doing something that could be done on the spur of the moment when suddenly I get a notion that this seems right. I guess you would call it a knowing that comes from inside you and not from the outside as on a dare or because someone has said you should do this or that. For some people taking a risk could be carried out after thinking about what they must do to attain it. That would be called a calculated risk. However, most people tend to risk doing anything because they overthink it. I have discovered that the more I think about doing something that could be risky, the less successful it has turned out.
A risk to my mind is doing something new which you haven’t done before. There is usually some fear attached to it. It could be something like jumping off a diving board into the water for the first time or climbing a mountain. Or how about crossing a street in Viet Nam where the rules around traffic and giving way to pedestrians are non-existant. I have been to this country and will never forget the first time there in Hanoi when I had to go outside my cozy hotel room and face the main round about in the centre of the city to get to the nearest coffee shop. As I waited with a couple from Britain on the curb hoping the onslaught of motorbikes would slow up and give us a chance to cross, it finally dawned on me that I had been warned about Viet Nam’s chaotic traffic but never did I think it would be like what I saw. Finally, I looked at the English couple and said, “Shall we go”? They looked at me in agreement. We stepped out into the traffic and just kept walking but keeping our eyes looking forward to the curb ahead. To our amazement, the traffic seemed to gracefully manoeuver their way around us allowing us to reach the other side safe and sound.
This was a risk to my phyical body and one I won’t forget. When I think about what risk is all about, I realise I’ve taken many in my life. In fact, doing anything new could be called a risk. My most recent risk was one I took last August when I volunteered to take on the responsibility of managing the community garden where I live. This garden was founded about fifteen years ago by a woman who saw a vacant piece of land which she wanted to make into a community garden for the residents and a nearby elementary school. Last year she decided to retire after suffering various health problems forcing her to neglect the garden. Unfortunatly, no one responded to her reaching out for someone to take it over for her. Since I was renting a plot there, I took the risk of saying that I would try to fill her shoes. I have to admit I gave it about a week’s thought before I made the committment. I had no idea what lay before me which is probably a good thing. If I had known how much of my time it would take to get the garden back into shape, I probably wouldn’t have taken on the responsibility. Now as I look back over the last eight months, I am happy to say that it’s been successful for me. I have learned how wonderful it is to work with a team of gardeners which has given me a useful purpose for being here on this planet. I feel like I am helping this community to pull together. Four of us who have formed a committee are working hard as a team which is more than enough to say in all honesty that taking the risk when no others would has paid off in spades for me. I have learned more about myself and others than I ever could have by taking the risk of reviving a dying community garden.
BetsTravelsAbout 
Hi Bets, so glad your community garden is working out…well done! Speaking of risks, I think the way you travel alone to Southeast Asia is, perhaps not so much risky, as super brave!!!
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Great to hear from you, Sally, and honestly I don’t feel so brave at times. I guess I just hide my fear of things better or maybe it’s my niativity. Hope things are going well for you and Mike in Vermont. It’s still quite cold up our way with below zero nights. Ugh! However, it’s better than the above 40 temps in Thailand. I heard on the news today that over 40 people have died from the heat in Thailand alone. Things are looking gloomy almost everywhere, but somehow we must not get depressed about it and keep up our hopes that we can do something about it.
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Think I was involved in getting you across the road on Hanoi
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Not on my first time there where I was on my own and I met up with Diane and Mike. I think you left Thailand to go to Italy. The time I am writing about was in April and it was the first time I had travelled in SE Asia onmy own. It rained for most of the time I was there and chilly. However, you did help me across the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) many times as you were seasoned by having to deal with the traffic in Montreal. I do remember however one time on that same trip a little old lady saw us waiting to get across and she came up to us, took our arms and led us across. I think that was on our second trip to VN. I’ve had some people asking me lately how you are doing? What would you like me to say? Always nice to hear from you.
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That’s great. How is the garden coming along? What did you plant?
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