Pessimists will try to rebuke me by saying that I am falling into the "Grass is greener on the other side trap". My answer lies in a simple question. "How green is your grass ? Can it feed your needs for life ?"
Keep the answers of these questions to yourself. The problem with us is that we are shy and we like to lead a risk free life. Had you taken a dig at your senior, you would have thought that he may feel bad and you may fair badly in the appraisal process. But you forgot that appraisal has nothing to do with human equality. He is your senior in terms of work but if he can take a dig, you are no less a mortal. The reason is we like to live comfortably, which is often misused by the supervisor.
A date before an exam might seem foolish, but on the other hand you could've found the love of your life. Now c'mmon love at first sight maybe a cliche but love at first date could be true.
Leaving your girl/boy for another one might seem as an insensitive act. People might even look down upon you or maybe say that you are untrustworthy. But hey! you took the risk and you thought that this new life with a new partner would make you happier. After all we are all at the end of the day trying to maximize our happiness quotient. The same goes with not committing yourself for marriage. Possibly going for a live-in relationship.
We just need to take risks. Taking the initiative is the difference between a happier, more successful person and a not so happy person. Pessimists will try to rebuke me by saying that I am falling into the "Grass is greener on the other side trap". My answer lies in a simple question. "How green is your grass ? Can it feed your needs for life ?"
Couples often find themselves trapped in a relationship because of commitments. They are not getting what they wanted initially. They are not satisfied with the end result but they are content because change is impossible for them. Just for their information a beggar on the road is also content with his life. Do you wish to be like him ? If yes, go say 'Hi!' to the pessimist. If no, come join me.
The same is true for businesses. Managers would like to save themselves by not taking risks. They could be heroes or zeroes. Maintaining status quo is their objective. If they take some risk, they fear losing customers. In the long run, their risk might have given more customers than the few they would've lost now. Dan has pointed this in a very good example on surveying customers with different schemes. As usual the fear of losing customers shelved the project. The same holds true with our relationships. We fear losing people but we don't see what life holds for us outside this circle.
The bottom line: Take risks & experiment. Do what you want to and forget the fear of losing people (even those close to you). If they are genuinely close to you, they'll understand.