Sometimes tip-toeing around a situation just does not cut it. It’s easy to play it safe, to justify taking the easy way out and to cross your fingers in hopes of the dice rolling in your favor. You’ll fall asleep knowing that while things aren’t as great as they could be, they’re still pretty decent. So that’s good enough, right?

Wrong.

Every so often (and if you’re like me, that means quite frequently) you need to throw yourself into a crash course situation in order to assess and understand what in the hell this battle between your head and your heart is all about. You have to be willing to risk it all — the comfort of the familiar, the vulnerability no one ever wants to reveal, the fact that you even care enough to dive right in — for the possibility of loving your life just that much more.

So build up your courage, take a deep breath, and go for it. Throw yourself into the middle of the scariest part of your dreams. How else are you supposed to find out if they could ever be a reality or not? Just don’t forget to brace yourself, because no matter the outcome, that one decision is going to disrupt the plans you once had, test your logic and shake your way of thinking. After all, challenge and change are the only ways we grow.

“Nothing in this life quite compares to the sweet exhilaration of making your move. When you just put it all on the line and go for it.”

– How I Met Your Mother