Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk

No risk, pay the cost. Know risk, reap the rewards. In our risk-avoidance culture, we place a high premium on safety. We insure our vacations. We check crash tests on cars. We extend the warranties on our appliances. But by insulating ourselves from the unknown–the risks of life–we miss the great adventure of living our lives to their full potential.

Ben Carson spent his childhood as an at-risk child on the streets of Detroit, and today he takes daily risks in performing complex surgeries on the brain and the spinal cord. Now, offering inspiring personal examples, Dr. Carson invites us to embrace risk in our own lives. From a man whose life dramatically portrays the connection between great risks and greater successes, here are insights that will help you dispel your fear of risk so you can dream big, aim high, move with confidence, and reap rewards you've never imagined.

By avoiding risk, are you also avoiding the full potential of your life?

The surgery was as risky as anything Dr. Ben Carson had seen. The Bijani sisters–conjoined twins–shared part of a skull, brain tissue, and crucial blood flow. One or both of them could die during the operation. But the women wanted separate lives. And they were willing to accept the risk to reach the goal, even against the advice of their doctors. . . . As a child on the dangerous streets of Detroit, and as a surgeon in operating theaters around the world, Dr. Ben Carson has learned all about risk–he faces it on a daily basis. Out of his perilous childhood, a world-class surgeon emerged precisely because of the risks Dr. Carson was willing to take.

In his compelling new book, he examines our safety-at-all-costs culture and the meaning of risk and security in our lives. In our 21st-century world, we insulate ourselves with safety. We insure everything from vacations to cell phones. We go on low-cholesterol diets and buy low-risk mutual funds. But in the end, everyone faces risk, like the Bijani twins did with their brave decision. Even if our choices are not so dramatic or the outcome so heartbreaking, what does it mean if we back away instead of move forward? Have we so muffled our hearts and minds that we fail to reach for all that life can offer us–and all that we can offer life?

Take the Risk guides the reader through an examination of risk, including:

A short review of risk-taking in history.An assessment of the real costs and rewards of risk.Learning how to assess and accept risks.Understanding how risk reveals the purpose of your lives.