Why Your Deep Craving For Security Is Slowly Killing You!
You have a deep craving for security and it is slowly killing you.
How do I know this? Because I have the same thing — we all suffer with it to some extent.
After all, it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? As human beings — human animals — we are programmed by our deep, elemental need to, well, remain alive, to take care of ourselves.
And there’s no better way of taking care of ourselves than by seeking security.
It stands to reason, since when you are ‘secure’ then you are inviolate. Or so you think.
Security, of course, comes in many different forms. Here are just a few of them:
- The security of a romantic relationship
- The security of a well-paid job
- The security of ‘a certain way of doing things’
- The security of tradition
- The security of habits
And so on.
Notice that none of these things is necessarily bad in itself. There’s nothing wrong with being in a great relationship, or having a job you enjoy.
For many, such things are — not without justification — markers of success, not failure.
Locked In
All well and good. However, each of the forms of security that i’ve listed have another component to them — they keep us locked in a particular situation, for better or worse.
I worked for a corporate media company for over a decade, and in that time I struggled almost daily with the question of what the hell I could do to improve my life.
On the one hand, I wasn’t fulfilled in the job, or in that particular industry. But on the other hand, it paid very well indeed, and allowed me to live a comfortable life even in central London, where prices are high.
Colleagues used to refer to our bind as ‘golden handcuffs’ — that is, the monetary rewards we were getting from the job prevented any of us from flying from the nest to somewhere that might be more to our personal tastes.
And so we stuck with our jobs, month after month, year after year.
Finally, after a company restructuring and a series of unfortunate (fortunate?) incidents, I left that organisation. That was four years ago, and it was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because it allowed my life top open up in ways I’d never imagined possible before.
Had it not been for those external forces that compelled me to make a change, I might very well still be in that same job right now.
And I can tell you for nothing that my mental and spiritual well-being would not be increased were that the case.
So with my example in mind, take a look at your life right now and figure out where ‘golden handcuffs’’ are holding you back.
Be honest with yourself — is the trade-off between security and freedom worth it?
If so then all well and good.
But if not, then maybe now’s the time you should start planning your escape.
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