I asked my eleven and twelve year old improv students what it felt like when asked to take a risk.

Excited, happy, curious and ready were some of their responses.

Oh, to be that fearless again.

In improvisation, you make split-second decisions and there's no time to over-analyze.

It's "yes, and" to every thought and idea. My young students are superstars at this.

It got me thinking, am I still taking risks?

No doubt, I've taken the

Typical Risks:

Moved away from home (as soon as I could)

Lived with a couple drummers (not at the same time)

Experimented with..... some typical teenage things....you know

Got married (the biggest risk of all)

And then there's the

Bigger Risks

Followed my dream (did it)

Listened to my intuition (doing it)

Threw away fear of failure (since divorced, still chanting, "I'm not a failure")

Start a Blog! (doing it)

Whenever I contemplate trying something new or unfamiliar there's an automatic

Risk Versus Reward screaming mind battle.

When I starting writing blogs, this is what the mind battle sounded like:

Risks: no one gives a shit about what I think, there might be typos,

I'll be sharing too much, I'll be judged.

Rewards: I don't care if anyone gives a shit,

I wrote it (and used Grammarly)

Sharing my thoughts might start a conversation or some personal introspection,

I like writing,

Judge, smudge, I've been judged my entire career and it never stopped me.

Why is it more difficult to take risks when you're older?

I'm on a dating app which I consider the

Riskiest thing I've ever done!

That's a whole other blog, but the message is:

Without risk there's no reward.

Now here's my new risk:

Asking you to subscribe to my newsletter. You're on it right now. Press subscribe.

Risks: None. If you do subscribe, you can unsubscribe at any time if you don't give a shit.

Rewards: Free Share Snippet video with every newsletter. (simple yoga hacks)

Special discounts on classes, workshops, digital courses,

The The Youthful Older Yogi podcast episodes and whatever else I'm working on.

We've all taken risks. Some with rewards, some not.

When I'm doubting my next choice, risk, or decision,

I will be returning to the responses from my young superstars,

Excited, happy, curious and ready.

and the quote from Ray Bradbury:

Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.