4/10/15
“A ship at harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are for.” Navy computer scientist Grace Hopper once said. Similar to Hopper’s illustration, if no one took chances we wouldn’t know that the world is round, how electricity works, and we probably wouldn’t have freedom. Throwing caution into the wind is important in everyone’s life. It’s necessary to take chances in order to test personal limits and discover something new.
By stepping out of the comfort zone, tossing out the security blanket, personal limits are put to the test. To illustrate, Dani never liked let alone zip lining. The thought of falling to his death, swinging into a tree, or getting stuck in the middle was very unsettling.Dani stood on the platform, never looking down, he took a deep breath the jumped. He was soaring! By strapping into the harness of possible death, Dani took a chance and extinguished any fears he had of heights. Taking chances help rid someone of fears and helps achieve personal growth. In addition, athletes are encouraged daily to test their limits. “Add ten pounds!”,“One more mile!”, “Two more back flips!”, these are constant phrases coaches use. If Gabby Douglass, an Olympic gymnast, never pushed her limits and took a chance she would not have the honor of calling herself a sixteen year old Olympic gold medalist. From ridding one’s self of personal fears and testing limits taking chances uncovers a world of opportunity.
Taking chances provides ample number of chances for new discoveries. For example, in 1993 the famous candy bar KitKat was looking for some way to make the tasty, crunchy, chocolate snack small enough to fit inside a man’s lunch box. One day after a company meeting, a young man decides to suggest they make the bar finger size and easy to break. His bosses loved the idea, and that’s how the modern day KitKat got discovered. This man took a chance of being rejected and made a fool of in order to discover a new way to make a product. Taking chances helps discover how to make something good to something better!
Therefore, it’s important to do what we are “built” for and set sail into the stormy seas to lest limits and make new discoveries even with the possibility of failure.