Note: There’s a special story behind today’s picture shared by Palak, a dear friend. She had a surgical procedure today and is in considerable pain. In spite of that, she took a picture of her favorite view and shared it with me. Resilient and determined, she’s one of my Super Woman friends. Thanks Palak and wish you a quick recovery!

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Bet on this for the adventure of your life.

Have you ever visited a casino? Or gambled? No? Wonderful, because the odds of winning are always in favor of the casino. This is called the ‘house edge’. The longer you play, the worse it becomes for you and the better it is for the casino. Why is that? Because the casinos get to make the rules. They always have the winning edge because you play by their rules, never yours.

In life too, many play by the rules someone else has made for them and then wonder why they never seem to find fulfillment which signifies a ‘win’ in life. This is because of a scarcity mindset: you believe you are only what others think you are or the label they choose to stick on you. So you sit on the shelf behaving like are told to. You never attempt to push yourself out of that comfort zone and step out. You never bet on yourself.

Instead, you are always peeping out timidly, hoping that help will come from some external source and somehow whisk you to that fantastic place you crave. Since this never happens, the only choice you have is to spend the rest of your life going around in circles. Or you could bet on yourself, fasten your seatbelt, and take off. Will it be a grand flight or a crash? Life has no guarantees but it seems to have a special place for those who bet on themselves. Your leap of faith will help you land in places where you will find healthy support and guidance, which never happened when you were waiting to be saved by someone else.

When you extricate yourself from the chains of your comfort zone, you start seeing opportunities instead of risks. You fear less. You make mistakes and learn well from them instead of doing the same thing over and over again without learning anything at all. You stop looking to others to inspire you and seek inspiration within yourself. You hold yourself to the highest standards. You recognize that there are no guarantees in life and make the most of every experience.

What if you fail? It is impossible to learn well without failing or making mistakes. I had a drawing teacher who told us that it was fine to make mistakes. She would then ask us look at the mistake, go over it, and correct it. Tiny bit by tiny bit. She taught us to never be afraid of our mistakes. Our learning began when we stopped expecting perfect results and treated errors as stepping stones instead of obstacles.

If you don’t live your life as fully as possible, no one else can do it for you. If you live your life as others expect you to, how can you expect to live a fulfilling one? Why wait for someone else to make decisions that will make you happy? Grab your life by the horns, prepare to live life full throttle, and do what makes you come alive. You have this one fabulous opportunity – that of a limited life. If you don’t bet on yourself, who will?