No Safety in Significance

Best selling author and motivational speaker, Chris Brady, claims the following:

“There’s no safety in a significant life, and there’s no significance in safe life.”

I want to delve into this a bit. Look into each scenario and deduce the truth of this statement. On one hand, I feel like people would be drawn to these words, and on the other hand, there might be hesitancies.

On the surface, that sounds like a really nice, postable quote. Lots of people will repeat it, repost it, then scroll on past and forget about it.

I ask that you would be the exception, and that hopefully, this post encourages you to think this issue through a little bit more.

Here we go…

A Safe Life

In order to have a safe life, you need to put up limits and boundaries. Fences keep you safe, protected. They keep out the unknown. The unknown can be (and often is) scary. Routine is another way to stay safe – sticking to the same, predictable, habits in life will ensure the same result almost every time.

Can you have significance in this kind of life? Sure. Theoretically. But it would require sacrificing some safety upfront. Think about it – say I wanted to start a ministry of some kind – I would have to go through the uncomfortable phase of learning how to start said ministry and make sacrifices of my time, money, and energy. There is risk involved in that. What if it fails? I just lost all those resources and assets.

A safe life requires you to stay within your comfort zone. Any time you set foot outside that zone, you invite risk into your life. Always. No exceptions.

Therefore, if you want safety, place as many walls up in your life as possible – don’t try new things, stick to your routine, and never introduce unknown variables into your life.

Now, I’m not saying that being cautious is a bad thing – on the contrary. Being wild and completely reckless is NOT the solution either. Stopping to think, pray, and gather advice from trusted sources before making decisions is GOOD and ought to be done. However, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

A Significant Life

Significance is defined by the online Merriam Webster Dictionary in the following way:

“Something that is conveyed as a meaning often obscurely or indirectly.”

Meaning can also be stated as “purpose,” so significance is something that is meaningful or purposeful to an individual or group of people. It holds value to that person or group.

Purpose is something we all like to think we strive for. Everyone is always saying that “you need to find your purpose in life,” or something to that effect. The problem comes in when people won’t stop talking about finding their purpose long enough to start actually actively pursuing it.

At some point, you’re going to have to push through the barriers of safety that have been put up for you by others and even yourself. You can plan, strategize, and lay out nets to fall on in case of emergency all you want, but at some point, you have to make a leap.

And that’s scary. Because there’s never a way to know if you’re 100% going to make it or be correct.

Honestly though…isn’t that what we long to live for? The thrill of the chase, the adrenaline of the adventure, and the excitement that comes with not knowing what’s coming next?

Brady has coined this type of life as “living in The Zone.” It isn’t exciting if it isn’t a bit dangerous, wild, and unpredictable. There’s a reason that phrases like “stuck in a rut,” and “plodding along,” exist and cast a strong sense of dread in our souls.

We were not made to live that way.

In order to have significance, you MUST sacrifice some safety. Not ALL safety – let’s not take this to the other extreme either (you know…the one where you’re selling everything you own and quitting your job to move across the country and start a circus or something on a whim).

Be smart – lay your nets, pray, seek guidance from God and respected individuals, and then…

Jump.

Because everything worth having, anything worth chasing, and any life worth living, comes on the other side of inconvenience.

Which to Choose?

Obviously, I believe there’s quite a bit of truth to this saying, and I also think most people would agree with me. However, the vast majority of the population won’t act on it or let this idea impact their life in a significant way.

Why?

Mainly, because it’s hard.

It’s so much easier to lay plans out, then rework the plan, admire it, rework it again, frame it and admire it again…then start reworking it over again…and again….and again.

You get the picture.

My parents’ motto for as long as I can remember has always been “Leave No Doubt.” Leave no doubt that you gave it your all. Leave no doubt that you left it all out there on the field till there was nothing left to give. Leave no doubt you’re living a life of no regrets and of great significance.

Safety is important, and ought to be considered, but in the end, the leap is required.

The question is, will you take it?

Until next time,
Hope Frances

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash