Who Dares,

From falling in love to seeking a career change, research says that the more you take risks, the more content you'll be in life.

Research shows that:

• Tall people are more prepared to take risks than short ones.
• Women are more careful than men.
• The willingness to take risks markedly decreases with age.
• Children of educated parents are more likely to take risks.
• Smokers are more willing to take risks than non-smokers.

Well I would like to prophesise that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Quite true. Unless you've risked feeling like a fool while you pluck petals muttering 'she loves me, she loves me not',you'll never really experience the rush of bliss when your beloved finally succumbs to your charms. Ignore the fact that you are mutilating a flower - the operative word here is risk. Whether love. lust or matters of money, research proves that the more risks you take, the more content you are with your life.

The straight and the narrow path - though it offers you security - is just that: A straight and narrow path that takes you from point A to point B. Without any meaningful diversions. life-changing opportunities and whopping windfalls. The risky road, though it meanders along the countryside, also gives you the satisfaction at the end that not only have you achieved what you set out to do. but you've also learnt how resourceful and resilient you are. Like a psychiatrist says, "Taking the easy path is playing it safe and that never gives you the happiness that taking a risk and succeeding does."

Obviously, risk-taking is risky business, when an outcome is uncertain. You just make a decision or initiate action without knowing for sure what will happen. It's like putting all your eggs in one basket and hoping that they'd all hatch, safe and sound. It requires nerves of steel to throw caution to the winds and jump headlong into what may turn out to be a cesspool. "That's the charm of it,". "Taking risks is a two-way process - one can fail or come off with flying colours. But in both cases, it brings passion - the passion of doing something different or having the courage to leave the beaten track."

A toe-dip into uncharted waters can be quite a high. an adrenaline rush that just keeps you going, withstanding all the insecurities and routine worries that accompanies it any major life change. It is this very high that most risk-takers hanker for.

As clinical psychologist and psychiatrist seem to say, "Thrill seekers take a lot of risks. And their recklessness doesn't allow them to think about the repercussions." Perhaps it's time to debunk the theory that all risk-takers are conident souls who just know that their gamble will pay off! "Risk-taking is not a sign of optimism or confidence. In fact, people who are diffident and have low self-esteem are the ones who take the most risks. And if their risk pays off, their sense of self is enhanced and that gives them pleasure and a sense of contentment." According to her, risk-taking is essentially attention-seek ing behaviour and is indulged in by those who feel the constant need to be accepted by society. "These people take risks just to prove a point to themselves and to the rest of the world, "she adds. Which doesn't mean that taking risks is a sign of weakness. Like Hingorrany says, "It is the maturity level that counts. The more mature you are, the more you'll contemplate the pros and cons and then take a risk when it's absolutely necessary. Immature people lack the foresight to think about the repercussions."

A large part of risk-taking is also learned behaviour. Again, research says that a habitual risk-taker will, in all robability, marry a person with similar traits. Their progeny, by default, will grow up in an environment where taking risks is a daily affair. Obviously, if you see your parents looking askance at risks and avoiding them like the plague, then it's quite unlikely that you'd grow up to be a person who switches jobs at the drop of a hat or takes a sabbatical to 'find yourself! Explains Dr Shetty, "Risk-taking is a family trait. It's nature as well as nurture. And youngsters now take far more risks than their parents as the former have the kind of emotional freedom that the latter never enjoyed. They really haven't gone through deprivation, subjugation or bondage - so they don't fear experiencing any of that if they fall flat!"
Perhaps we live in an age where everyone believes that it's asinine to cross a 20-feet chasm in two 10-feet jumps. There's a chasm to be crossed -just take a mighty leap with a prayer on your lips!

Abha Srivastava reports In the 15th Jan TIMES NEWS NETWORK