The reality of our beliefs

There are moments when we get a chance to see in action the way our beliefs about ourselves and what is possible for us become glaringly obvious. Our lives run forward from one moment to the next and we are able for the most part to ignore the fact that we have ultimate control over what happens, but then there is a choice presented to us and there we see how expansive or restricted we make our lives. I myself tend to stay with what is known, safe or put off the decision for as long as possible. But I see now how doing all of that has made a life that is not what I really want for myself. A life lived in safety, the known or put on hold indefinitely just keeps us stuck feeling like there is more and not getting to have it. Yes, it is true that leaps of fath, stepping out of our "norm" is scary. The truth is no one likes taking risks, the human psyche was set up to avoid as many of them as possible. That it is inherent to us to play it safe doesn't make it the right thing to do though. We never know how long we have on this planet. We never know how long we  have with a person or how long we will have that opportunity. The very fact that those things are unknown almost demands we take full advantage of the possibilities. I don't claim to have been brave my whole life, as I said I  have tended not to be over the last decade or so, but I feel this stirring in me asking me to stop waiting for the right time, the perfect circumstances or the absence of fear (because none of those things is ever really going to show up). I can not let fear continue to control my life, be it fear of rejection, judgement, or failure. If I died tomorrow how much would I regret taking the chance versus failing to do so and knowing it could have made all the difference? We can't just not let things happen because they might not work out, the choice to do that is eliminating any and all chances that it might. We narrow what is possible for ourselves by taking that beautiful outcome totally out of the picture.
Maybe we do the avoiding, playing safe, keeping to the known (all be it not fulfilling) because of what we believe is possible based completely on our past experiences. Maybe we just assume it will always be as it always has been but the thing is we are here now, the past is gone, it doesn't exist anymore. If we don't let the current events and people to be who and what they are because we are assuming they are what is long gone that is just another form of our minds trapping us in stasis. How can we possibly know who, what or how something is going to be if we never really allow for it to include the option of being completely different from anything we have ever known? Again, us just taking that beautiful outcome totally out of the picture.
I suppose if we do see that we are doing this to ourselves the question becomes "Am I willing to continue to not be fulfilled, loved, happy etc. because I choose to eliminate the best possible outcome?" If the answer is yes, well it is our life after all, we have free will, we can do and be whatever we choose to be, but why would we want that for ourselves?