A Simple Twist

A young clerk who worked for a department store had an idea for a store that would sell only items costing a dime or less. The clerk approached his boss and asked him to invest in his plan, but the boss dismissed the idea as being too risky. "There aren't enough items to sell for five to ten cents, he told the clerk.

The young man opened his own store without his boss' help. Eventually, F.W. Woolworth's stores stretched across the nation, and his former boss commented, "As far as I can figure out, each word I used to to turn to Woolworth down cost me a million dollars."

Studies of older Americans have shown that those who take risks are the healthiest, live the longest, and remain in the best of spirits. Extreme risk taking has its own hazards, of course, but a moderate level of risk taking is crucial to emotional and physical health. Too much self-protection can hinder our growth.

He that would catch fish, must venture his bait.

-Ben Franklin