Rilke on acceptance, courage, letting go,

https://mind-springs.org/library/rilke-on-acceptance/ 

Letter to a Young Poet

We have no reason to harbour any mistrust against our world,
for it is not against us.
If it has terrors, they are our terrors.
If it has abysses, these abysses belong to us.
If there are dangers, we must try to love them,
and only if we could arrange our lives,
in accordance with the principle that tells us
that we must always trust in the difficult,
then what now appears to us to be alien
will become our most intimate and trusted experience.
How could we forget those ancient myths
that stand at the beginning of all races –
the myths of dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses?
Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are only princesses
waiting for us to act, just once,
with beauty and courage.
Perhaps everything that frightens us is,
in its deepest essence,
something helpless that wants our love.
So you must not be frightened if a sadness rises before you
larger than any you’ve ever seen,
if an anxiety like light and cloud shadows
moves over your hands and everything that you do.
Life has not forgotten you.
It holds you in its hands and will not yet you fall.
Why do you want to shut out of your life
any uneasiness, any miseries, or any depressions?
For after all, you do not know what work these conditions are doing inside you.

Rainer Maria Rilke

https://mind-springs.org/library/rilke-on-acceptance/

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first. ~ Frederick Wilcox

Fwd: Risk-taking

Forwarded conversation between xxxx and xxxx

Tell xxxx that "Profit is a return on risk".  It is a very simple business concept but key if you want to be very successful.  You can't have an expectation of a big payoff if you don't' put yourself on the line.  People think other people are successful because it was just handed to them or they are "lucky".  It is because they took the risk.  There is always the possibility that the risk will not pay off or you'll suck at it or lose your money, but that is the price you pay for your return.  You just have to have confidence that you can turn it around even if things don't always go great.  It seems like this is what John has worked for all his life so far. If this is what he wants, he shouldn't be ruled by fear and left that take away this great opportunity.

With my business for example, I have good people that work for me that think they should have an ownership interest.  I say " great, if you want to buy out another partner, we can pursue that." They say "well I don't have the money"  I say "you could mortgage your house like I did" and they say "no way do I want to do that".  And it's like, well you don't take the risk you don't get the payout.  Which is fine if you don't have big expectations for yourself.  Just don't sit around whining about your life not being what you want if you are not willing to take the risks to get there.