Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.

A coin has two sides Heads and Tails. If I flip a coin, I have a danger of losing on one hand and a chance to win on the other hand. So there is threat and opportunity. Flip of a coin is a 50:50 game.

But risk in trading is not a 50:50 game. You can suitably control risk to get more winners than losers.

Take the case of fire. You need fire to cook your delicious recipes. Fire can burn your food. Yet you use fire day in and day out because you can manage fire. You know that uncontrolled fire can cause serious damage. But still you are not afraid to use fire as you are able to control fire with say gas regulators. You have also safeguards like fire extinguishers, splinkers etc. to reduce the damage in case of mishap.

Just as running away from fire is not the alternative running away from risk in investments is not the solution. Instead of hiding behind safe products, you can hide behind risk management strategies.

The idea is that we should welcome risks. Without risks there are not going to be riches. The million dollar question is; are we prepared to meet this risk.

Are you unaware about it? Or do you recognise it?

Are you careless about it? Or do you learn to cope up with risk before committing yourself?

Are you embarking upon it unprotected? Or do you have sufficient protection against serious damage?

Are you taking risk within your risk appetite? Or are the risk levels beyond your risk bearing ability?

Keeping large amounts of money in your house is a bad idea because a theft or fire could wipe out your savings. Your savings kept in banks will lose value over time because many things become expensive as time goes by. As such in future you may have to shell out more to buy the same set of goods and services. You are all aware of the devil called inflation. Is inflation not a form of risk? 

Therefore there is no such thing as zero risk or no risk.

This small story of a blind man tells us all about risk.

-A blind man had been waiting a while at a busy road for someone to offer to guide him across, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," said the tapper, "I'm blind - would you mind guiding me across the road?"

The first blind man took the arm of the second blind man, and they both crossed the road.

Apparently this is a true story. The first blind man was the jazz pianist George Shearing. He is quoted "What could I do? I took him across and it was the biggest thrill of my life."

There are times when we think we cannot do something and so do not stretch or take a risk.

Being forced to stretch and take a risk can often help us to reduce our dependencies (on others, or our own personal safety mechanisms), and to discover new excitement and capabilities.

Embrace Risk!!!!!!