Security In Adventure

We all have our secu­rity needs. Secu­rity, like con­trol, is a bit of a para­dox. The more you seek it, the more you lose it. The most inse­cure peo­ple you will ever know are secu­rity dri­ven. After all, secu­rity is a bit of a myth. At best it is rel­a­tive to what­ever the cur­rent con­di­tions might be. For secu­rity to work, it must be bal­anced by adven­ture. It is strength­ened only by putting it to the test. You get more of it by giv­ing it up once in a while.

There are sev­eral ways to do this. I like travel. It is amaz­ing what hav­ing to learn new ter­ri­tory will do for build­ing a sense of per­sonal com­pe­tence — which under­scores your sense of well-being. Secu­rity is not the result of hav­ing money in the bank or your home debt-free. It is the result of tak­ing on new emo­tional chal­lenges. Set­tling for the same pre­dictable rou­tine makes nov­elty very threat­en­ing, and thus secu­rity is lost.

I once read that: “There is no secu­rity except that of mak­ing one’s way toward a goal.” The more risky the goal, the greater the secu­rity, for secu­rity is what we believe about our­selves and not how much we have col­lected mate­ri­ally. It does not have to be found in a dis­tant jour­ney; it can be found in tak­ing social risks right where you are. Get to know some­one you have ignored. Change the way you relate to your fam­ily or com­mu­nity. Get out of the “secure” rut that makes you so insecure.

Rou­tine can work like a drug. At first it feels good, and then it cre­ates more inse­cu­rity and the need for more pseudo-supports. In the end, we are crea­tures with no bar­gain­ing power with real­ity. What­ever secu­rity crutch we use we can lose. The leap of faith in which secu­rity is tossed to the wind grants an exis­ten­tial secu­rity. We come to trust that which we can­not see and under­stand what we do not fully com­pre­hend. It is the adven­ture of faith. The most secure peo­ple I know sit on the edge of the cliff and dan­gle their legs over the edge.

Any­time I am afraid of los­ing what I have, I put it up for grabs. I will not be intim­i­dated by any­thing that promises secu­rity at the cost of adven­ture. The trade­off is just not worth it. There is no secu­rity on this side of the grave any­way, but there are end­less adven­tures. Take one and see if you do not feel more secure. You will find your life by los­ing it.