Safety

We all long for some level of safety. For many, the pursuit of safety is an overwhelming instinct that takes precedence over nearly everything.

We find safety in all kinds of things. In our family, in stable jobs, in our homes, in friendships, in a big bank account. The irony is that most of our safety is more or less an illusion, a reality that only exists in our mind. We are guaranteed nothing. Some families fall apart, some people die too soon. Stable jobs end up being not so stable after all. Friends move away or change, the value of your savings succumbs to dips in the market. What we have could all be gone tomorrow.

Something I am trying to do better is to recognize safety as a feeling worth enjoying when it comes but not a concept worth pursuing by any means necessary. What would you do differently if you gave up on safety? I’d probably change a number of things in my life, but first I have a few more mental chains to break.