The Risk That Bit Back

As humans, when it comes to making more money or achieving a feat, we don't hesitate to take risks. Even when we feel things might be awkward at some point, we still step into it, hoping luck may shine on us. Taking risks is part of life.

In the past, I've taken some risks that boomeranged, making me regret and wish I could go back in time to stop myself from engaging in it. Also, some risks helped me grow and gain knowledge.

I have taken a "risky risk" as a student, especially during my study at the College of Education in year 2014. I took the risk of travelling to Lagos from Oyo State on many occasions to meet guys I'd met on social media, especially on Facebook. I didn't know how I'd have the courage, especially when the bus I take would pass my mom's shop, and I would be like, "...and she (my mom) would think her daughter is in school."

The fear of being used or kidnapped never crossed my mind for a second, or even involved in an accident where nobody would know who I was, especially since I don't go along with my Id card. That's why I say, a risky risk - a risk worth a risk, itself.

We take risks every time. The actions we take each day, ones that seem mundane, involve some degree of risk. Take, for instance, entering a vehicle, and there is the driver reeking of alcohol and smells of cigarettes, but we still hope to arrive at our destination with the risk of accidents, collisions, or anything just happening on the road.

Another one is speaking in public or standing for justice for the good of people and the risk is the fear of judgment, anxiety or negative feedback. These and others are risks we take.

But for my post, I will be sharing a recent risk I took which affected me, and I regretted it. It's so funny how I have decided never to take any risk involving money again, but I just couldn't stop myself from entering into another because of FOMO (Fear of missing out). Recently, a friend on Hive introduced me to a platform. I won't mention her name but if she finds this post, she will know herself. Lol

It requires one to start with a minimum of $8, and I saw it as something I could afford to lose even if I didn't get anything in return. I sold some Hive and deposited into this platform and yes, I got some profits for a few days until my greed took over me. It happened that another friend who also was into it told me of her plan to upgrade so she could make more profits.

I'd already made up my mind not to upgrade but to keep getting my profits, of which I'd made the initial capital ($10), which I deposited and was still getting profit. I decided to follow her plan the next day after she'd deposited $32 which I did the same.

Seriously, I'd planned for that money because I needed it to settle some pending bills but since I wasn't using it soon, I decided to test the water until I was drowned in it. 😅

It was when I'd deposited the $32 that the site started misbehaving until it didn't allow us to withdraw. At first, we were told to wait a few days as the withdrawal option was being worked on to enable its smooth transaction for everyone, but when the day came, we got another shocking news, which was a sign that they had made their money off of us and we've been scammed. Lol. We were told to deposit $100 or so so that we could withdraw our pending money easily.

But who would fall for such a trick? Why was the deposit option going through but not the withdrawal option? I bet, if anyone should go ahead with that, he's a fool. Lol

That was how I risked my $32 and paid for it because I had to source for means to settle my bills with another money I shouldn't have touched but you know, though I learned my lesson, I quickly moved on so as not to allow myself into dwelling on it and causing another issue in my body. I knew it was out of greed and I should face the consequences.

But does that mean if another opportunity like that comes again, I wouldn't jump at it? Of course, no, I will because life is a risk, and we keep taking such risks, hoping things will fall in the right place, but one thing we ought to control ourselves from is the enemy called greed. It's so dangerous that it could take everything you ever achieved from you.

But for the simple risks like sleeping at night and not knowing if ever we would wake up the next day, this is normal and we only hope that God guides us into taking risks that will help us achieve our aims and goals in life.

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