In our modern world, we have become obsessed with being safe. Somewhere along the way, we went completely off the rails.

Or maybe it just happened gradually without our noticing; one thing leading to another until we have become a fear driven society. Or maybe it's more devious than that.

Years ago, I wanted to create a woodworking center, a shop where people could go to learn and make things under the eye of a professional. But the insurance costs would have been so astronomical that the whole idea became impractical. No way to be safe.

The fact is you can't get up in the morning without risking something. You could trip and hit your head going to pee in the night. The possibility of your being in the wrong place at exactly the wrong moment and being hit by lightning or crushed by an airplane motor falling out of the sky is remote. But it happens. How was it that guy stepped into the crosswalk and the exact moment when the other guy ran the stop sign?

You don't have to be a woodworker to be in constant danger. Accomplishment and risk go hand in hand. Risk nothing, gain nothing. Being safe on this physical plane of existence? That is, in my humble opinion, a complete illusion.

Common sense will serve you well and should be exercised lavishly. Safety is always and always should be front and center. But no matter how safe you try to make your world, there will always be something out there that you didn't think of or that never happened before. The gremlins are everywhere. We cannot, should not and must not live in fear.

D.D.