Risk Taker​:  We approach uncertainty with forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies.  We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change.

It’s crazy to think about really.  We live in a country that clean water runs to our homes with near 100 percent consistency, providing all of our daily needs to cook, bathe, drink, and clean.  And yet, there are entire societies that have no running water and must drink from an unclean water source.  Our country’s state of emergency is another’s daily life.  That thought alone makes one pause about the risk involved.  However, we teach that risk (healthy ones) are important to our growth.  We risk every day.  We ​drive cars, ​we, ride in planes, we drop our children off for hours in ​a school’s​ care, we try something new​, we fall in love, we make change.  I have two teenagers.  I talk to them continuously about the importance of ​risking their thoughts, their heart, their ideas. Risk allows being pushed to the edge of their comfort zone. Growth comes from there.

Today I took a risk that I’ve been thinking about for years.  Two years ago,  I was looking for an adventure and an attitude adjustment.  I wanted to see more purpose in my life.  I was a part of countless conversations with those in WATERisLIFE and I was so intrigued.  Here was an opportunity to make a difference in strange land with just enough familiar by knowing a few of the people involved.  I had my deposit ready, a check written and in an envelope ready to hand over.  I have a lot of food allergies though and it kept weighing on me that while visiting a remote village in Africa, turning down offered food by village hosts might just be the thing that did me in.  I met Mrs. Fine in the parking lot at OI, asked some more questions, and decided that it wasn’t my time.  I tore up the check and went back to life as usual.

Today as ​Mrs. Fine and I​ waited to board the plane, I thought about the timing of it all.  My allergies are still a pain.  The shots that are required for the trip were potentially dangerous to me and it took an extra trip to see my allergist (luckily he’s a cutie so the extra tests could have been worse) and then had to take ​four​ different trips to Passport Health to receive the shots slowly over time just in case something went awry​.  The difference is that I looked at my fear differently this time around​ and I was able to work past the risk to gain the reward.  It was a full circle moment acknowledged in that we can risk a bit at a time, even put it down for a bit.  Moving forward is still the most important part​.