The older I get, the more I realize that there is much I do not know.
I very often say, the only thing I can know for certain is that there
is a lot I do not know. I, like you, love learning, and one thing I have
learned is that the people you surround yourself with, both physically
and virtually contribute greatly to the things you learn, and to the
beliefs you have about yourself, other people, and the world in general.
Many people have a negative relationship with risk. To some, it is another
four letter swear word. You are very correct in saying that there is risk in
all things, nothing is a guarantee. The reason we hate risk is because we
have a fear of the unknown. The fear of the unknown is the source of
most fears. There is risk in playing it safe, and there is risk in giving it a
shot. It is better to play and risk losing, than to not play and lose anyway.

Or as Theodore Roosevelt puts it.
"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."