You Can't Win If You Don't Take a Risk

Earlier in my entires I discussed the likeness of poker to life. After today, I would like to further that discussion, because I feel like I have some more key advice.

Today I folded a great hand because I was too afraid to take a risk. After folding, I realized how big my opportunity to had been, and how haunting my mistake would be. I still cannot let it go, even though it happened hours and hours ago. I could have taken my friend out of the game. Instead, he went on to win.

My preceding rant might seem random, until I implement it as a metaphor for life. Basically, in life, everyone has to take risks to get to where they are. When I folded my hand, I was too worried about the possibility of losing to imagine the benefits of calling the all in and taking the pot. This works the same way in my life, and the lives of many others. I did not take a risk that was presented to me, and now I feel sick to my stomach, despite the fact that I did not lose too much in the process. When I play for the Homestead soccer team, I never seem to play as well I as I do for my travel team. On Homestead, I am always so afraid to make a mistake that I am incapable of taking risks. This not only obliterates my confidence, but it stops me from succeeding and standing out. Instead of going out to the fields and playing my own game, I seem to worry too much about the possible downfalls of making a mistake or a bad pass. In poker, you can't win a hand if you never call the bets, and in soccer, you can't score a goal if you never shoot. I am trying to teach myself that there's no point in dwelling on your errors and playing timidly in order to prevent further mistakes. Nobody is perfect, therefore, everyone makes mistakes. If nobody ever took a chance, we would be nowhere near where we are today in every aspect of our society. I say, from now on, if I am dealt the hand, I should take the risk. Whether I have a solid hand in poker, or I have a solid skill set in soccer that I am unable to use due to my fear of failure, I need to make the best out of what is given to me. It's better to take all the risks and shake off the failures, then to take no risks at all, because, if you don't take any risks, you'll look back on your life and kick yourself for all the good things that could have come from the risks you could have taken. If you don't risk anything, you give yourself zero chance to succeed.