Risk

Waiting For Confirmation

Garth Beyer

2392520183_405635fcb6_nI’m getting bombarded with calls about whether students are confirmed scholars – that they will get the grant.

I’m talking to a close friend about a possible relationship. She just wants confirmation that the guy feels the same way.

Confirmation is like expecting a genie to come out of a lamp without rubbing it.

My shortcut to overcoming fear’s defensive method of convincing you that you need confirmation is that the feeling itself is confirmation enough.

Outside of typical fears such as a fear of height, being afraid means that you are thinking about something risky, special, and all-so-worth-it. Cut yourself a break and realize that the desire for a confirmation is confirmation.

If it wasn’t worth it, if you weren’t right, if it wasn’t meant to be, then you would never need or ask for confirmation in the first place, now would you?

 

Stay Positive & Go Make It Happen

Garth E. Beyer

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Two Types Of Art

Garth Beyer

The first is risk-free. It’s the type of art that you can destroy without second guessing yourself; the type of art you can return, get your money back, or just give away to someone else because you’re not attached. This type of art is noncommittal.

But it’s still art. In fact, it’s invaluable art.

This type of indefinite art is about expression as much as it is exploration. We can peck at it, flip it, and stick the end of our tongue to it to see what it tastes like. This art is about discovering through creating what we don’t understand. This art is to be played with.

The transition toward the second type of art is made through what all art shares: facing unresolved issues – the meaning of life, why this and not that, where do I belong.

Popular art – the second type of art – is when a creation contains answers.* The second type is about sharing findings, sharing answers, sharing your conclusions – egotistic or not. This is the most difficult type of art. To creat the first type, all you need to do is turn rumination into something tangible. For the second type of art, you have to commit, you have to accept all the criticism you will receive before you receive it. What ruins art creators is when they underestimate the amount of resistance they will have to face, internally and externally. The second type of art is simply art shared.

*[Right or wrong, they are answers. Popular art becomes such through connection, acceptance, and reality. It may not be the right answer for you, and it may be the wrong answer for her, but, essentially, it’s an answer for someone.]

 

Stay Positive & Create A Little Art. One Type Or Another

Garth E. Beyer

You Can Land, But Never Settle

Garth Beyer

If the chair is uncomfortable, find a new one.

If the book is uninteresting, quit reading it and toss it away.

If you don’t like what you ordered, get something else.

Settling is a habit that we get ourselves into. Settling does not occur sparingly – it’s not just about relationships, or classes, or traveling, or other worthwhile situations. We only find ourselves settling in the high risk situations because we settle for all the little things each day instead of changing them, redirecting, restarting, giving something new a try, or simply walking away.

When we land somewhere new, it’s sometimes a combination of anxiousness and excitement. When we settle somewhere, well, being drastic, we’re giving up.

 

Stay Positive & Never Give Up, Never, Never Give Up (HT to Chuck for teaching me this)

Garth E. Beyer

References

Garth Beyer

Sometimes I don’t put contacts that I know practically have a script prepared on a reference list. I’ve come to find that it’s really easy to find a few people who will talk you up. All you have to think is who cares most about you and has a different last name.

Sometimes I put contacts that don’t know me too well because they are forced to share what little they know. After that, they assume, they predict, they judge honestly.

It’s often more remarkable to hear where other people think you are going in life than it is to hear people say where you told them that you think you are going in life.

It’s a risk, definitely. Hasn’t failed me yet.

 

Stay Positive & Truth Will Out

Garth E. Beyer

Fine Lines

Garth Beyer

There’s such a fine line between winning and losing.

There’s such a fine line between genius and insanity.

There’s such a fine line between honesty and bluntness.

There’s such a fine line between communication and interaction.

There’s such a fine line between being naive and taking a risk that’s worth it.

There’s such a fine line between capitalism and capitalization.

There’s such a fine line between reality and pretend.

It’s not that we’re not meant to cross certain lines, rather, we are meant to dance on them. I tell you, we are here on this earth to dance around, don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise.

 

Stay Positive & Hell, Just Draw Your Own Lines

Garth E. Beyer

The Best Time To Start

Garth Beyer

The best time to start is when you have all your ducks in a row.

Th best time to start is when you are fully invested for.

The best time to start is when you have a safety net.

The best time to start is when someone waves the green flag.

The best time to start is when success is a guarantee.

 

The thing is. The best time to start isn’t the only time to start.

It just so happens that the way to bring the best time to start in your life is to start when things are ambiguous, when they are uncertain, when it’s not safe, when you feel uncomfortable, when it’s a heartfelt risk.

 

Stay Positive & Start Now

Garth E. Beyer