Risks and Inventions

By: Shivani

Thomas Edison and his invention of the light bulb.

 Last summer, I saw a band performance on my way to a game. I was amazed to see how well these young students performed together. In my mind, I thought I could never perform as well as them. This year, when I had the opportunity to sign-up for my school band, I decided to take the risk and try to learn a new instrument. Though at first I could not play a single note, I practiced every week and guess what!! I played a trio in my first performance.
What is a risk? I was surprised to read that one of the definitions of risk is “Threats and Opportunities”. I thought risks were only threats as a result of uncertain and unknown elements that could cause failures and areas to avoid. We normally neglect the opportunities and inventions aspect that may be hidden in the risks. Just imagine how the world would be like if nobody took risks due to the fear of failures. Do you think great inventions like the Iphone, Ipad, satellites, or even basic sources of necessities or luxuries like light, heat, road vehicles, airbuses and ships would have been possible without taking the risk to research and invent something new? The society mocked Steve Jobs when he introduced the $400 worth I-phone in a market when phones were available for free. He still took the risk and introduced his product into the market.We all are aware of the successful results. Did you know that Michael Jordan, the baseball rookie was knocked down in his first game with the Chicago Bulls? He finally became a favorite basketball player and led the team to win the Olympics. Thomas A Edison failed 6,000 times before finding the right filament for his light bulb. Isn’t that an amazing outcome of taking the risk to venture into an area that was unknown to mankind before these inventions were made?
There is a quote by Thomas Edison that said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Failures and risks can lead to great things because of trying again. If you believe in what you do, have the courage to take a risk, accept and learn from the failures, and try again, then you are bound to succeed. The learning is in the journey and not in the end result. The journey gives us the exposure to new experiences to help us make better decisions and eventually gives birth to newer inventions. Are you willing to take the risk to try something new in spite of the possibility of failing initially? Just like I tried to learn the clarinet, please share one new area that you will risk to try this year.