Take risks* sometimes

Risks are sometimes worth taking. This is obvious. The tricky part is feeling and behaving as if it is true.

I notice myself behaving as if this isn't true all the time. If I write something, it's always possible that the reader will read it some other way than I intended, or worse, that they will read a foolish meaning which is exactly the meaning I intended. Only after sending each message did I realize: Damn, I said something foolish. Damn, what I wrote could be read a different way that is unflattering. Damn, that joke wasn't funny after all, was it? And while thinking these things, I caught myself making an implicit connection: Therefore I shouldn't have bothered. Ideally, the logic goes, I shouldn't have sent anything at all, or if I sent something I shouldn't have bothered trying. I should have kept it simple and to the point. I should have done nothing or at most something boring.

And I could refrain. I've done that for a while. But that's been boring. No risks, no anxiety, no excitement? It kind of sucks. Better to take risks sometimes than not at all.