TAKING RISKS

9/11/2023

Most of my work is about change. Making change. Taking risks. Meeting challenges. Confronting fears. Dealing with transitions, relationships, loss. Folks often feel stuck and want to feel better; more at ease; attain a sense of satisfaction. But here’s the rub: you cannot become what you want to be if you are too attached to what you have been. Making change takes hard work. I wish it was easy as Nike’s slogan “just do it”. We all wish we could just “do it” but our fears and insecurities often intrude. And whatever point we are in life – if it’s not satisfying or happy – it is familiar. Familiarity is very comforting even if it’s uncomfortable. It’s about getting comfortable with the uncomfortable- and making the uncomfortable more comfortable. Making change takes risk. It’s scary and requires vulnerability. That’s a major tradeoff to what might come. “Might” is the operative word because there are no guarantees of outcome. We can stay with the familiar and know what we know. Or, we can take risks. Whether the risk leads to satisfaction/happiness or not, you will gain wisdom; the ability to learn from it. It may even get you closer to what you want. And, if it doesn’t turn out as you hoped, you can always try something new again. There is a way out because we create our own stuckness.

7 Comments

Leora Keehn

9/13/2023 01:30:44 pm

I found this blog post very interesting. It is important to talk about this topic and advocate for it. Many times when people are scared to take risks, they stay quiet. However, this causes a sense of unease. It is not an easy task to overcome, but it is worth the effort. As I start my senior year of college and begin my field work, this article spoke to me in many ways. My field placement is going to involve many new things and require me to come out of my comfort zone. This blog reiterated how important it is to keep trying and push yourself to try new things. I look forward to learning a lot of new things and taking risks. In addition, I hope to take what I learn and speak up about how I took risks and overcame the challenges of starting new things and being in different environments. I am going to remember this blog not only in my school life, but in all aspects.

Samantha Barcia

9/13/2023 06:40:44 pm

When reading this blog it really made me think a lot about myself and my future career as a social worker. I feel that I am very passionate in how attentive and caring I will be towards my future clients. One thing about me I have learned is that sometimes I do not know how to express my venerability as I feel it could look like I'm weak. As I get more into the field I am learning that it is ok to be vulnerable and to make mistakes. Something I have started to make me become more comfortable with the uncomfortable is by doing things that may seem uncomfortable to me. My goal is to come more out of my shell to become a better person.

Alyssa Trousdell

9/13/2023 09:43:03 pm

I found this blog post very interesting. It very much resonates with what we are doing this week, starting our field placements. I personally feel slightly intimidated and anxious about making a new transition and having new responsibilities and expectations. For example, within the next few weeks at my placement I will be meeting with two different clients and writing case notes and safety plans for them. I feel nervous I won’t be good at doing it at first and either disappoint my client or my field supervisor(s). However, it’s important for me and others to remember that taking risks and facing fears is what allows us to feel more comfortable with the uncomfortable. It also allows us to learn from our mistakes and gain wisdom and knowledge in that. The experiences we gain at our field placement will help us grow into stronger social workers.

Diana Guzman

9/14/2023 11:12:44 pm

This blog speaks to my journey of returning to college. I dropped out twice because I was scared of failure and every time I felt challenged I would give up. After becoming a mother I knew I wanted to teach my children to not give up and to face their fears. I needed to set that example. I needed to overcome my fear of failure. I did not want my fears to keep holding me back. I was uncomfortable with the thought of going to college and being a stay-at-home mother. I did not know if I would be able to manage it all. The unknown scared me. Like you said it is not easy like Nike's Logan, but for me that's what I had to keep telling myself "Just do it"! I am so glad I was able to push through my fear, the uncomfortable, and the unknown. Although I have a lot more to learn and overcome, I have noticed the personal growth within myself. I still have moments of fear and doubt but I reassure myself by acknowledging that I have come this far. This blog is a reminder that making change is hard but it's worth the risk.

Adriana Sevilla link

9/15/2023 10:15:35 pm

Fear gets in the way of a lot of things for me personally and the biggest challenge I have encountered has been conformity. I already feel myself growing as I push myself towards accomplishing more. This post allowed me to gain clarity that all I need to do is believe in myself. Advocating for myself and having a voice is something I hope to accomplish this semester.

Angelina Sanchez

9/17/2023 08:06:17 pm

I also want better for myself, but as the blog post indicated, it depends on how willing I am to put my comfort at risk. Truth be told, I loathe the unknown. I despise not knowing if the conclusion will advance me one step toward my goals or set me back three. I'm a person who likes to have control, and I especially want to make choices that I know will be beneficial to me. Why would I want to choose a course of action that failed to pay off? However, I'm understanding more and more that it's okay to try new things, whether the outcome is good or bad. As stated in the blog, taking the risk might help me get closer to what I want, or it might not, but at least I'll have learned something.

Leila Fatscher

9/18/2023 11:03:56 am

This post encouraged me to reflect on the skills that I want to develop during my senior year in the social work program. I want to become more confident in the professional environment. In order to do this I need to take risks by speaking up at meetings and sharing my knowledge with my colleagues. This is a risk for me because the response of my colleagues is unknown but as Dr. Meyers wrote, no matter the outcome I will be able to learn from it and gain wisdom and experience.

TAKING RISKS

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