Safe

Safe can be a good place to be. To feel protected, loved, part of something. We strive to keep precious things safe. Indeed, one of the first things I tell each of my new tutees as they move up to Year 4 is that the first thing (and the most important thing, in my view) I am meant to do is to make sure they are safe and happy.

Safe is a good thing.

But safe is also a not so good thing. It's sticking to the status quo because your scared of what the other choices might lead to. It's not taking the chance, not putting yourself out there, not striving, not pushing. This sort of safe keeps you hidden, afraid, makes your life a little smaller and meaner.

This safe is less of a good thing.

Of course, sometimes it's useful....it keeps us out of harm, helps us to make the right choices...until you find you're always opting for the safe, the known, the easy.

This year I hope to have just as much of the first kind of safe. The safety of a loving family, good friends, a sweet man and a vocation I adore.

The other kind of safe I know I have to let go of. I need to change, to adapt, and to become a braver, bigger person.

Here's to the challenge.