Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Security

Most of us spend a lot of time seeking security in life.  We strive for financial security, physical security, and emotional security.  When we are secure we feel comfortable.  We want to be secure because we believe it will make us happy.  But will it really?  Personally, I don't think so.  I think our search for security actually causes suffering and makes us unhappy.

What are we really seeking in our quest for security?  Well, I checked out the dictionary and found some interesting definitions for the words "secure" and "security."  Here are a few, accompanied by my analysis:

*A guarantee
There are no guarantees in life.  Life comes with a lot of uncertainty.  Thus, when we strive for security we are trying to obtain something that doesn't exist. 

*To guard from risk of loss
It is impossible to guard against all loss.  Loss is a part of life.  At some point in our lives we will all experience loss.  Yet we try to avoid it by seeking security.

*Stability, continuance without change; permanence
Real "stability" does not exist.  Things in life are constantly changing.  Nothing is permanent.  When we try to keep things as they are or to make them permanent by clinging to them we create a lot of anxiety and suffering for ourselves.

Most of us look for things in life to make us feel secure.  Security, however, is just an illusion.  That is why the "feeling" of security is transient.  Someone or something may give us a temporary feeling of security but when the illusion fades the reality will still be there: nothing is ever certain and nothing lasts forever. 

Perhaps we would be better served by learning to acknowledge and accept the uncertainty that is present in life and learning to tolerate the discomfort and anxiety that this causes.

4 comments:

  1. I like the digging into the definition work you've done here. Dropping the searches for security is the work of a lifetime.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Were we separated at birth????

    I love this! "Security" is an issue for me, definitely! Thanks for this... I'll be thinking about this one, trying to improve this bad habit.

    You wrote this beautifully~ so easy to understand. You're right: We're all conditioned to "hold onto..." to "keep from changing..." Impossible, isn't it?

    Great great post!
    Dayne

    ReplyDelete
  3. I lost my father when I was 16 and for many years after his death, I was like a leaf in the wind. That grief combined with the difficulties we all face at that age were too much to handle. I drifted from place to place for a long time, too broken to even know I was searching for security. But life took care of me. At the time, I saw my father everywhere. (Strange!?) Now I'm inclined to feel life truly does take perfect care of us and especially when we just let go.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "...life truly does take perfect care of us and especially when we just let go."

    (from Kris's comment).

    I LOVE THAT... SOOOO TRUE!!!

    ReplyDelete

My Favorites