Steve’s “Insides and Outsides” post was right on the money and I want to take it a step further and discuss something I call the “Security Paradox.” The Security Paradox is the irony that the more one strives for “security,” the less secure they become. The core of the paradox is that the world we live in gives people the feeling that they need to seek security outside of themselves. Steve used the example that sometimes he sees others driving in perfectly manicured cars and feels that maybe he needs a perfectly manicured car. The world we live in gives us the idea that we must have enough money to surround ourselves with things that make us feel secure like houses, cars, electronics, insurance or a girlfriend/boyfriend. The desire for security gives us the incentive to strive for these things. However, this sense of security is perceived. It is not real because it is based on principles of a reality that is not our own…as individuals. This is the reality that has been projected by others, telling us what they think we need. The fact is that the more we strive for these external and material trappings, the less secure we are…the more we think we need, the less we actually have.
From the get-go in life we are conditioned to try and fit in and to try and succeed based on others’ idea of success. It’s a common notion that children are born as pure souls and their connection to that soul is continually obscured by external realities…by the “real world.” We are made to feel insecure about what we do not have when the reality is that we have everything we need in our souls…our hearts, our minds, our bodies already. The real world is the reality we create for ourselves. As we go through life, success, in actuality, is maintaining faith in yourself and the connection to your soul. True success is staying faithful to yourself and staying connected to your soul…following your passion…fulfilling your potential and doing what you love no matter what the world tells us about the risks of doing so.
In reality the only true risk in life is losing yourself and not staying faithful to yourself and who you are.
Pete Arbuckle