The Kwote Korner leaves 2005 with the best, most uplifting description of Risk Taking that I've ever seen. Rhys Thomas ("Many are called ... Few accept the charges") is a juggler and physics presenter living here in Portland. In a recent interview in The Oregonian, he laid out universal lessons that he's learned from juggling.

Rhys Thomas, on universal lessons learned from juggling:

1. It's all about risk and reciprocity. To gain a catch, you must hazard a throw. The better the throw the easier the catch. This translates as life's invitation to embrace a little risk-taking, but know that the better prepared you are the more likely you are to succeed. Juggling is a reminder that what you give influences what you get.
2. Most of the action is in your peripheral vision. If you focus on the peak of the arc, you can predict where the ball will land. A narrow mind sees only part of the picture, but an open and educated mind can extrapolate a great many possibilities from the glimpses it gets.
3. It's OK to drop. Gravity always wins in the end and yet flight still exists. Your job is to make as many brief, creative, delighted flights as you can before you finally drop.

Wishing you many creative, delighted flights in 2006.