Safe!

Safe!…From who?…From what?

What is safe anyway?

It seems the last several years have spun the word ‘safe’ to be our top priority. ‘Stay safe!’ ‘Be safe!’ Keep safe!’

I believe this has caused ‘igloo living’ People hide out in their igloos and do nothing. No risk involved. Just stay put, stay safe and do nothing. Don’t cause any trouble. Don’t make waves. Don’t go against the current. Don’t voice your opinion. Keep your thoughts to yourself. Avoid other people.

This is the opposite of progress. Without the pioneer spirit of risk – great risk- there would no New World. Columbus wouldn’t have crossed the Atlantic. The settlers would have never left the New England colonies. The western states would not have been settled and all the beauty of our country would be yet undiscovered. We would have no electricity – too risky getting shocked or electrocuted trying to make the light bulb. Michelangelo would have never painted the famous ceiling in the Sistine Chapel – too risky painting that high up and laying on your back. No bridges would be built – might fall in the river or off the cliff while working on it. No crops would be planted – might get too much sun or might get rained on. Too risky to raise livestock – might get kicked or trampled. Plus there’s manure involved. No mining for gold – a rock could fall on you. No air travel – might fall out of the sky and land in the ocean.

But somebody has to find the food, cook the food, spin the wool, sew the clothes, saddle the horse and hook up the wagon so we can go to Grandma’s. How are we going to manage? That somebody might not do it the same way we would or how we wanted or imagined.

Risk is a part of life. I am taking a risk writing these thoughts, as you are reading them.

Let’s get out of the illusion of ‘safety’ and begin to risk again. Risk trying something new and different. Risk a new project, a new friendship, a new invention, a new place to live or park to see. You will be enthralled at what is out there available for you.

You chart your course. Don’t allow another to hold you back under the guise of ‘staying safe’!

There are new things to be discovered, invented and made.

Let’s get at it…together!