I was saved by a tree. It wasn’t a very sturdy looking tree – about an elbow in girth and only 3 or 4 metres in height. It was growing pluckily from a crack in a near vertical exposure of rock. I met it on a climb. I had climbed to a mind focussing height and was balanced on a foothold and a handhold. I’d lassoed the tree with a sling and clipped the sling ends together. I was reaching to clip the sling to my rope when both holds gave way. Just like in the movies I managed to grab the sling and was left dangling by it as a shower of debris that had been the climb clattered to the ground below. After a few seconds of inelegant scrabbling and grunting I established a more comfortable position and, with my partner joining in, began laughing. Relief, elation, sense of achievement, camaraderie, hormonal stimulation – just some of the stuff you don’t get by playing safe.
Our comfort zones are big, familiar, responsible, socially acceptable places. Ironically they are often remarkably unsafe. Although our comfort zones often feel safe, objectively speaking they usually aren’t.
Our problem is our tendency to be very subjective (fearful) when it comes to balancing risk and reward. What we are familiar with makes us feel safe, what is unknown feels scary. This doesn’t just rob us of potential rewards it can put us in more danger.
Spending most of our time at home and work can make us feel safe – it keeps people happy and, well, it just makes us feel secure. Statistically speaking, it’s a very dangerous thing to do. In research, one quarter of middle aged British men tested had some evidence of ischaemic heart disease1.. Heart disease kills one in three British men2. and one of the biggest causal factors of heart disease is sedentary lifestyle2.. What feels safe isn’t necessarily so.
I was told by a good friend that I’m viewed as unsafe by a significant number of people. I took this as a compliment. I also asked why they saw me thus. Apparently it’s because I climb, swim, paddle, explore, don’t wear safety goggles when I brush my teeth…
The UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is often seen as the ultimate wet blanket – the one to blame for our “nanny state”; by people who have clearly not read many of their publications. The HSE point out that there can be no reward without risk and that all must strike a balance between risk and caution if they are to gain any kind of reward.
“A ship is safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are for.” William Shedd
Overstated, the things that make us feel safe are dangerous and the things that feel unsafe are good for us – they are an opportunity for us to exercise discernment and free our self from the danger of fear and stagnation.
Risk is a judgement, fear is raw emotion. The greatest risk we face is not something going wrong while in the process of doing what we love doing and what is important to us. Rather it is to miss out on realising potential to do amazing things and find out what we are capable of. Every time we give in to the immediacy of fear, we take a massive risk. We are risking becoming trapped inside our comfort zone for good.
Dave MacLeod
Let’s be objective in our balance of risk and reward. Let’s be aware of the danger of being scared by things that feel dangerous and imprisoned by stuff that makes us feel safe. Let’s avoid the things that are dangerous and get a grip of our fear of things that feel dangerous. Our growth and recreation is at stake.
- What do you cling to for comfort? How much genuine security does it provide?
- How are you putting yourself in objective danger through your efforts to avoid subjective danger?
- What rewards – valuable to your recreation - are you missing out on by avoiding taking risks?
- In what ways are you rationalising your unwillingness to take risks?
- What risks should you begin to take? When will you begin to take them?
1. British Heart Journal
2. British Heart Foundation | 
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