I remember vividly being on a course in London when I was a trainee solicitor. I don’t remember the content; it was something to do with finance which I have never needed to know since. But I remember the lecturer saying, ‘you are all very lucky; you are going to be solicitors and you will never be made redundant.’ Well, a short time after that I was made redundant. And since then, it has become commonplace for law firms to make redundancies. All that studying, training and hard work used to confer a sense of stability and security, a safe career and a job for life. It’s no longer the case, and perhaps it never was.
In fact, nothing in our life situation is permanent or secure. The most stable marriage can hit the rocks and the healthiest body can become ill. Any security that we might feel, be it financial, material or in our personal relationships, is transitory. Nothing in this material life lasts. Ever.
Realising this, as many of us do at some stage in our lives, especially when things don’t go to plan, we may redouble our efforts to create security and stability in our lives. Saving money, planning our pension, requalifying, working on our marriage, improving our lifestyle to support our health. All these actions have merit but if we focus too much on creating security something happens that may surprise us: we feel insecure.
This is because it is the very process of seeking security or safety that makes us feel unsafe. Imagine sitting in an inflatable dinghy in slightly choppy water. You feel unsteady and you try to grasp hold of something – anything – that feels solid. You find that nothing feels solid, everything is moving. The more you reach out and grasp for that indefinable something solid, the more unsteady you feel. If you give up, let go and sink down in your seat, guess what happens? You find that the safest place is right where you were, all along.
And that is how it is with us. We are safe and we always were, but the safety is not what we imagined. There is no real security in having enough money, in qualifications, a career or a stable family life. All those things are temporary. Real security is in the present moment and in our breath.
Take your next breath. That is security. Notice the present moment. It is here, all around you, as far as you can imagine and further. It never goes away and it never ends. When we find the courage to breathe and to rest back into the present moment we find that we have all the security in the world, all the safety we need. Those other things may come and they may go, but their coming and going need not impact on how ok we are.
It’s ok, you are safe, you always were and you always will be.
