There's No Such Thing as Safe

There's no such thing as 'safe'. To be safe might mean that there are no mistakes and there are no traumas, but that would also mean there is no adventure and there is no advancement. To be safe means there is no risk. This is not reality.

Life is nothing but risk. From the moment we are born, there are potential disasters at every turn. There are diseases and accidents and other potential troubles waiting around every corner. We can take steps and measures to ensure a reduction of bad events, but nothing can prevent all of them. Problems in their various forms are legion. And like the mythical hydra, it can seem like for every one that we conquer, two or more take its place.

To compensate for this, there are also joys. There is pleasure and there are rewards. For each road block there is at least one, if not more, possible ways around it. Or through it. We are inventive and can triumph over any number of troubles that come our way. We gain strength with every hurdle that is overcome. We improve. This would not be possible without risk. This would not be possible if we were truly 'safe'.

'Safe' is not something that can be achieved by creating a lot of rules or by shutting ourselves away from the rest of the world, either. Being safe is not a matter of climbing into a bubble and avoiding problems. Isolation poses its own risks and causes its own difficulties. Trouble will seek us out no matter where we hide. It will find us. It is unavoidable.

'Safe' is a state of mind. It is an attitude. It is the belief that good things will continue to happen and we can look forward to them. Even more, it is being at peace within ourselves despite how difficult the world can be. No matter how bad things get, we know we are secure within ourselves and how we approach our lives.

There's simply no such thing as 'safe'. Except maybe in baseball. But that's a whole different world in itself, isn't it?