We have an inbuilt drive to be safe. This makes sense, as if we didn’t we would tend to get ourselves into a lot of trouble, by following possibly well-meaning desires in excessive ways. Sometimes we need to tune into this safety drive and moderate what we are doing, and on other occasions we could benefit from easing off on our safety mechanism as it may be too restrictive and, ironically, this itself can be dangerous.
Action: How well calibrated is your safety drive? As you reflect on the role of safety in your life, bear in mind that it can be present in different degrees in different areas of our life. If you are being reckless, you can conceptually turn up your safety levels so you are more thoughtful about short-term and long-term wellness. If you’re being too cautious and holding back too much, recognise that this itself can pose danger and it is also necessary to protect yourself from those risks—by holding back on holding back!