“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller

When was your last real adventure? What was the last risk you took? When was the last time you did something even though you were afraid to do it?

If it’s hard to come up with an answer, you’re not alone. Unfortunately we live in a world today where playing it safe, staying inside the lines, and the false comfort of “guarantees” are often valued over; freedom, adventure, and risk. In fact most people view the word “risk” as inherently negative. I believe however that to truly live we must risk, not for risks sake, but because there are some things that are simply worth risking. Many people shy away from risk because of what they stand to lose, but how different life might be if they focused instead on what they stood to gain?

I think back in my own life at times I’ve chosen to risk.

The night Christa and I had “the talk”.
Making my first sales pitch to a vendor for an idea that would eventually bring in over $10,000 in value to pay for our wedding.
Our first year of marriage when we both quit our full time jobs and I took a job waiting tables at night so we could work on building Go International.tv during the day.
Signing a contract to procure a 10,000 seat stadium for our very first international youth concert.
Floating down the Amazon in a thatched roof wooden boat (at night, in a massive storm) in order to share Christ with a tribe.
Turning down a $75,000 annual salary when I was working as a server only making $17,000 annually at the time.
Accepting an invitation to speak before thousands when I was only 19 and had never spoken to near that amount of people before.
Traveling to India with just me and my friend Matt for 3 weeks when we were just teenagers.
Launching Go Internship.tv
Moving the ministry into offices
Deciding to have our first child.
And most recently: Selling everything and moving our family to South America in the nation of Ecuador!

This list goes on and on. I write it not to glory in my past, but rather to highlight the fact that almost all of my favorite memories in life had some level of risk involved in order to experience them. It’s easy to list now but at the time those risks were very real with true human emotion attached to them. When we decided to start Go International and quit our jobs immediately after marrying, you better believe there were some doubts and worries: “What if we fail?” “What if we can’t pay our bills?” “What if we’re not capable?” All of those were questions we asked ourselves. I am just glad that we didn’t let those questions stop us. In fact, we started asking ourselves new questions: “What if we succeed?” “What if this works?” “What if we truly can live our dream?” It is these latter questions that spurred us onward.

What is it that’s in your heart? What dreams do you possess? Who are the people that you love? It is my contention that your answer to those questions are indeed worth the risk. I always used to tell the Go Interns: “We only get one life, this is not a dress rehearsal.” Comfort and security are not worth the death of your dreams. Now is the time to live your life. Risking is the difference between existing and living.

What about you? Click hereto send us a message and tell us about some of the risks you’re glad you’ve taken in life. Your story may be posted to inspire others.

This has been the 2nd installation of #go_inspiration, the new weekly collaboration between Go International and artists of Instagram in which we seek to provide continued inspiration through articles and art. Every week artists from across the globe will upload their photos to Instagram and hashtag them #go_inspiration. Our featured artist will choose their favorite photo. At the end of the year Go will compile all the winning artists work into an inspirational book called #go_inspiration. The winning photo for the “Risk” theme was created by @adaezemusic chosen by our featured artist @__kto.

Join us for this week’s #go_inspiration as artist Nathan Yoder (@flyboy), inspires us to be “Thankful”. To see @flyboy 's #go_inspiration or to join in this week’s contest CLICK HERE for more details!

Q&A with Featured Artist @__kto:@go_intl: Tell us about your #go_inspiration. @__kto: I was happy to participate in this weeks #go_inspiration. art based around themed words is fun.

@go_intl: Share a little about what the theme "risk" means to you. @__kto: I found the theme "risk" entirely fitting for my current season of transition.

@go_intl: What programs did u use to design or edit this? @__kto: I used one black crayon, an iPhone and photoshop for the piece.

@go_intl: Where do you find your inspiration? @__kto: These people have taught me life and art principles: @dodgepangburn, @belpangburn, @darsh07, @becworth, @christabaca

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