Nothing to lose. Think about this common phrase/sentence. I have nothing to lose. It’s usually followed by “and everything to gain”. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, meaning I take the chance and if I fail then nothing is lost but if I win I gain something or a lot. You use this or hear other people say or write it and you read it a lot.
Take a minute to think about it. Does it only mean that you should take that chance as the positives far outweigh the negatives and you could gain a lot. Read that again – I have nothing to lose! Meaning I don’t have anything with me worth losing. I have nothing of value that I could risk losing. Which means that I have nothing important.
While the first situation is an ok way to be in, a good situation even, the second is not. It’s terrible and sad and a desperate state to be in. I never want to be in that situation. I want to only have the first kind of situations in my life.
I kind of interpret it as meaning that whatever it is you are planning to do will not have a huge impact on what you already have – that the benefits outweigh the risks. But I do see what you mean, it can come across as being overly negative.