The Danger in Safety

The grass is green and the kids are outside, merrily jumping on their trampoline. They are happy. I am gratified by the peace and space afforded me in them having taken their play outside. My husband is in the woods, it is the first day of turkey hunting season. Again, I say, I am grateful for the peace.

But I am also a little nervous, as I have been most every spring, summer, fall (OK and winter!) since becoming a mother. Warm weather means everyone is out doing all manner of different things, and there is danger in all of those things! Kids bounce off trampolines and land on their head, break an arm, you name it! Hunting accidents happen every year. Accidents can happen any time at the farm, but seems even more probable with kids and tractors constantly on the move. I see the kids running around and the worrywart in me can picture a million different, awful scenarios.

It’s not just bodily harm that causes my worry. Emotional safety is something I also think about. There is emotional safety in having the same roof over your head every night, the same people to come home to every day. Safety in having a steady job and a paycheck you can rely on. Daily routines are a comfort. These are all good things, I think.

Or, maybe they are not. Not always.

Safety can breed complacency. Being continually afraid to fall, may make you afraid to jump! The steady paycheck may make you afraid to step away from that miserable job you go to day after endless day, and halt your search for your true passion. If you are afraid of being shot, you may never set foot in the woods!

If you don’t venture out, take the risks, you miss out, and so do your kids. Because if they see you always playing it safe, aren’t they more likely to do the same? We joke about putting our kids in a bubble when we are worried about them. Wouldn’t it be nice to put them (and sometimes even ourselves!) in this protective little bubble and know they were safe no matter what? Nobody will call them names at school, they will never get their hearts (or arms!) broken, we can all just be safe and comfortable and happy.

Maybe not truly happy; but happy enough, right?

Not for long! Because safe is BORING!!!! If you are safe all the time, have you really lived? As far as we know, we get one go round on the big spinning ball. I’ve checked all my pockets and have yet to find my return ticket! When it is my turn to dash off into the great, wide open, I don’t won’t be satisfied to look back and realize I never got hurt. I want to know that I’ve LIVED! I’ve seen, felt, heard, tasted, smelled – EXPERIENCED – everything that I possibly could! It won’t always be safe, probably not even smart, but neither will it be boring!

If that is what I want for me, who am I to deny my family of that?

So, my kids are outside on the trampoline and gunshots are ringing out in the woods. And everything is fine. As long as there are helmets, seat belts and blaze orange hunting clothes, we don’t need to worry… too much…