Last year I was excited to drive down to Red River, New Mexico for a long weekend of skiing. That Wednesday night I looked at the weather forecast, and my heart sank. Winter Weather Warning!! As if that wasn’t bad enough, the warning went on to say “Travel on some roads may be impossible“. Ugh! Not good. Why? Well, Red River, NM is a little mining town nestled in the Sangre De Cristo mountains. There is only one road that goes through Red River and on both sides you have to climb up to over 10,000 ft (3,000 m) to go over a pass. There was a good chance those passes would be roads that were “impossible”.

I was so looking forward to going, but was it worth it? Should I risk winding up in a snowbank…having to call my boss on the side cliff telling him I might not be into work next week…just to go skiing? Maybe I should call it off?

I decided to risk it. Not carelessly…but a calculated risk. I took the long way down. I still had to climb a mountain pass that may or may not be accessible, but at least the bulk of the trip would be on the Interstate. So I set off and yeah, I will admit there were a couple of white knuckle experiences…but I took it slow (5 hours instead of 3) and didn’t take any risks that seemed reckless.

The result?

I was treated with 3 glorious days of skiing!! Sunny, not a cloud in the sky, cool temperatures and snow…lots of snow! I was so thankful I took that risk, as the payoff was breath-taking!!

Got me thinking…what calculated risks do you and I need to take in 2023 as we travel this road of life? Taking a risk is not always easy to do…but the payoffs can be huge.

• Do you need to volunteer for a new project at work?
• Is it time to pick up the phone and call that person that you have been worried about how they would react to something you say?
• Should you take the plunge into something outside your comfort zone?
• Maybe learn a new skill?

Taking a risk is never easy. I’m not advocating that we be careless or reckless in taking risks. And there is never a guarantee it will be successful. But the reward when it is successful…well worth it.

What’s one calculated risk you are going to take this week? Let me know in the comment section below.

I am so grateful I didn’t let fear keep me from going last week…look at the beauty (picture above) I would have missed out on. Now the knee pain on this 55-year old body after 3 days of hard skiing…that’s a different story…for a different time!