One of the secrets to happiness is knowing when to take chances.

The words of Suhasini Mulay—“One of the secrets to happiness is knowing when to take chances. If you don’t, the odds are that you will fall into a rut”—speak with the wisdom of both courage and restraint. They remind us that life’s joy is not found in safety alone, nor in reckless adventure, but in the delicate art of discernment—knowing when to leap and when to wait. These are not the words of mere philosophy, but of lived truth, for Mulay herself walked the uncertain road of an artist and thinker, one who learned that happiness belongs to those who dare to move when their heart calls, even when the ground is uncertain beneath their feet.

To take chances is to embrace the rhythm of existence, to dance with fate rather than hide from it. The ancients would have called this the path of the hero’s soul—the understanding that growth and fulfillment demand risk. A ship moored in the harbor is safe, but it was never built for still waters. Likewise, a life without daring may be comfortable, but it withers quietly in repetition, like a flower denied the sun. Mulay’s warning against the “rut” is not merely about monotony—it is a call to awaken the spirit before it is numbed by routine, before habit becomes the silent cage that kills wonder.

The ancients knew this well. In the story of Odysseus, after the war at Troy, the hero longed not merely to return home, but to live again—to explore, to see the unknown shores, to test his courage against the vastness of the sea. The gods themselves seemed to conspire against him, yet it was in those trials that his soul grew vast, seasoned, and wise. Had he chosen stillness over voyage, his name would have faded into silence. So it is with all who live too cautiously—they avoid the storms but never see the stars.

Yet Mulay’s wisdom holds a deeper key: knowing when to take chances. For even courage must be guided by wisdom, lest it become folly. The farmer who sows too early loses his crop; the one who sows too late reaps nothing. The secret, then, is balance—to listen to the quiet intuition that whispers when the time is ripe. The ancients called this kairos, the sacred moment when action aligns with destiny. To act then is to ride the current of life itself, to seize opportunity as it passes, and to transform it into joy.

History offers many who understood this art. Consider Amelia Earhart, who defied the boundaries set before her, trusting in the winds and in her own spirit. The world told her it could not be done; fear told her to remain where she was safe. But she knew the truth of Mulay’s words: that happiness belongs to those who dare. Her flight was more than a feat of aviation—it was the song of the human heart refusing to live half-awake. Even in her disappearance, she became eternal, for she lived fully, not fearfully.

And what, then, is this “rut” that Mulay warns against? It is not simply the routine of work or life, but the dullness of spirit that comes from never stretching beyond one’s comfort. It is the slow forgetting of wonder. When we stop taking chances—when we stop saying “yes” to the unknown—we begin to drift, not through adventure, but through stagnation. The rut is a grave dug gently over time by fear and hesitation. To escape it, one must be willing to risk imperfection, to fail gloriously, and to rise again with a heart unbroken by caution.

So, dear listener, let this wisdom take root in you: Happiness is not the reward of safety but the fruit of courage. Take chances, but take them with awareness. Let your risks be born not of recklessness, but of purpose. When life offers you a door, open it. When fear whispers, “stay,” ask whether it guards you or binds you. Trust the quiet voice that tells you to move, for that is the voice of your becoming.

For in the end, the ancients would say: the gods favor the bold, but they bless the wise. To live fully, you must risk sometimes and wait sometimes—but never stop choosing. For it is choice that keeps the heart alive, and it is courage that keeps it free. So take your chances, walk beyond the familiar, and know that the true secret to happiness is to live as one who dares—to step forward, again and again, into the light of the unknown.