another poem

this is a poem that i read when i was sixteen, and i have tried to live by it ever since then. it's kind of funny to read and then see how it's changed my life, and see what i need to work on.

ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS IS FREE
by Author Unknown

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach for another is to risk involvement.
To expose your ideas, your dreams,
before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the
greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The people who risk nothing, do nothing,
have nothing, are nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes they are slaves;
they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.

Maybe now it's more clear as to why i love so deep, laugh so loud, cry so much, and open my heart to all, also why I grow, and live and love, and hurt. Because only then am I free.