In our risk avoidance culture, we place a high premium on safety. We ensure our vacations. We check crash tests on cars. We extend the warranties on our appliances. But by insulating ourselves from the unknown – – the risks of life – – we miss the great adventure of living our lives to their full potential.Ben Carson spent his childhood as an at risk child on the streets of Detroit, and today he takes daily risks in performing complex surgeries on the brain and spinal cord. Now, offering inspiring personal examples, Dr. Carson invites us to embrace risk in our own lives. From a man whose life dramatically portrays the connection between great risks and greater successes, here are insights that will help you dispel your fear of risk so you can dream big, aim high, move with confidence, and reap rewards you've never imagined.

NCLA Review - In today’s litigious society with helicopter parents and cradle-to-grave insurance coverage, this is a book for everyone to read. Dr. Carson’s faith is central to his life. He was raised as a young black man in Detroit, graduated from Yale and became a neurosurgeon in operating theaters worldwide as the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. He encountered many risks while on this journey and deciding when to take them and not to take them is the theme of this book. He helps the reader examine risk historically, helps to assess risks for its costs and rewards and helps one understand risk that reveals your own life’s purpose. He gives the reader a tool which is the author’s personal risk grid. With this tool you can examine the risk in every situation, judge its acceptability and make your decision confidently. Dr. Carson has innovative ideas for solving our health care crisis and ending the national debt. Rating: 4 —RE 237p, Zondervan 2008, 978-0-310-25973-2, $19.99 [302.12] ( )