Taking A Risk
Sometimes in life there comes a time where you may be confused, not sure what your next move is going to be. It may be that an opportunity has arrived and you are contemplating moving to a different state, going back to school, or debating whether or not to open up a new business. Whatever the case is, it can leave you feeling confused, excited, anxious, a variety of different emotions that you might have never felt before. This in turn leads to you deciding whether or not you are going to act on these emotions and make a change or ignore them and continue on with your daily activities. The crazy thing about this entire notion is that this particular opportunity may have been before you for years, but yet you refuse to take the risk and accept what may lie ahead of you.
The reason I bring up this particular topic is because I know people who are currently and have been in this situation before, specifically myself. The one thing I know for sure is that I am very passionate about combating human trafficking but yet I am not sure how to exactly get my point across and continue to make change. The other thing, I know is that I have a voice, a voice that allows me speak against modern day slavery. Now the question for me is how to continue to use these two elements and turn it into a lifelong career.
These past couple of weeks have been filled with participating in events specifically regarding combating human trafficking such as a meeting with the Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force, attending college events and speaking at high schools. All of these amazing opportunities have allowed me to connect with other abolitionists and hear what they have done and are doing regarding the issue of human trafficking. However, even though I have met a variety of different people that have given me some excellent ideas on how to move forward in the future, it was not until the other night that it truly clicked. I was conducting a meeting regarding the topic of public speaking and sharing some key elements to help the group when it comes to giving presentations. At the end of my teaching lesson, two people that I have worked with for the past couple of months pointed out that there are current human trafficking situations happening in an area that I am very familiar with, this would be my chance to step up, go to the area, face the chance of people not listening to me, but not giving up until I got my message across.
To be honest I was slightly amazed at this comment simply because within five minutes I went from being the teacher to the student. All of these questions and thoughts I have had going into the future seemed to be answered so quickly by two other people, yet the answer never had appeared to be that simple to me. In short, I left the meeting thinking, have my future plans been in front of me this entire time but I seemed to not recognize them? The answer to this question is …. I still am not sure. I know since that meeting my mind has been racing with many different thoughts; however I am pretty sure I know what I need to do. My point, in life there are going to be situations where we do not always know the answer, and sometimes it takes somebody you are just getting to know to tell you your answer and for you to finally see what you need to do. Regardless of the situation, follow your passion ask yourself what are you truly passionate about? If you could share one message what would it be? Next, follow that passion, if it means going back to school; try it, opening a business; look into it. We are often times so afraid of taking a risk that we refuse to step forward and try. My goal is to take the next step forward, continue to spread my message, and if I get stuck in a rut along the way, to never give up and take the approach that was said by T.S. Eliot, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
Stacy Schaffer
Miss ND International 2011
