Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
-Helen Keller
Let’s talk a little about “security” and why people seek it so much. To start off, we all feel vulnerable sometimes, we look for something to hold on to that we think will make that vulnerability go away. Looking for ways to be “secure” is a very limiting idea, in a general sense. Now I’m not saying don’t lock your doors, but even that can be said at an extreme level.
There is emotional security and physical security. Most of the time, security is built on false fears that are unrealistic. This is usually because the person hasn’t used much logic; taking the lazy way out, so to speak. For the sake of this example, I’ll use job security. People assume that getting a job with benefits, etc is safe. Let’s break it down. Why is it safe? If we DON’T get a job, what will happen to us? Will we die? Most people usually spill out worst case scenarios at this point. But at the end of the day, there’s no real threat to a person’s survival if they lose a job or fail a business. There are always more chances to take up out there. It usually works like this: more risk = more reward.
Now let’s use another example, this time an emotional one. Let’s say there are two guys: one who ONLY goes after women that he considers a perfect 10 and another that settles for a woman he’s sort of attracted to, but won’t kill himself for. People like guy #2 are usually afraid of rejection and look for the “safer” way out. Is this fear justified? Well, let’s look at it long term versus short term. Chances are that guy #1 will fail more often than guy #2 (although certainly this isn’t always the case) and he might get disappointed and feel rejected. Guy #2 will succeed at a higher rate and feel less rejection, but will be less happy in the long run because he didn’t get exactly what he wanted. This goes back to fear, habits, and our rule of “short term comfort = long term discomfort/ short term discomfort = long term success”. Although there is some discomfort, guy #1 gets what he wants 100% of the time.
Risk is a big part of life. There’s no such thing as 100% security. Our minds always blow things out of proportion and make them seem bigger than they are. Once we get into a habit of ignoring that urge to chase after the wild goose called “security”, we will find ourselves taking more risks. If we spend too much time thinking about an action or a process we have to go through, it breeds negative thoughts like doubt, fear, and different biased, absurd scenarios. One thing is not to think about it and just go through with it. More often than not, the result will be less of a problem than imagined, even positive! One thing to keep in mind is to think logically about what the risks are. The fear of ending up somewhere uncomfortable is not to be feared at all. Humans can adapt and they can do it well. If you can’t find an answer for an assumed failure, you DEFINITELY will if you ever end up there. True security is solving problems, not anticipating them.
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