What is security?

This Friday did not start very well. I received a call from my wife that she was in an accident. It was a three car pileup. She was in the middle. Luckily no body was injured. The car was damaged quite badly. My son was in the car too. He is doing fine after the accident.



This event made me think. We have three cars. We have a new van which we kept for the nanny thinking it is a bigger and safer vehicle and kids will be in that car most of the time. We purchased a set of snow tires for my wife's car(not a four wheel drive). It so happened that my son wanted to go with my wife to the school in her car. Later that morning because of icy conditions the accident happened.



We spend a lot of time thinking, arguing and researching what is best for ourselves and the family. We worry about a lot of things which may may not happen. We plan for these events. Most of the time it is a smart thing to do. But many a time we get caught up in this and lose sleep over the planning process. It seems to me we forget that the inherent nature of the safety net is imperfect and depends on many variables.


While saving for retirement we calculate how much we will need in 30 years. We chase that magic number. As soon as we get there we find out "the fundamentals of our economy are not strong" (Sept 2008). Or we put in overtime to make that extra buck and suffer a heart attack or stroke as we get to retirement age.


We buy the best security system for the car but forget to lock the car. We send our kids to the best school but never ask them about their friends.
Time and again we see around us that against all odds a toddler survives an earthquake, an old man out lasts the robber and in the best of circumstances things go wrong. I have seen miraculous treatment in the district (govt run, underfunded) hospitals and really bad outcome in the private hospitals. We can go on and on with these examples. We have this false sense of security that we are doing the right thing or at least we tried if something goes wrong.

Deep in our heart we know that we have little control over the events in this life. But secretly we are sceptical and think we can out smart the nature. While telling our friends and colleagues to enjoy the present we continuously plan how to get ahead of others in the future. We intentionally neglect the law of the nature. We lose the ability to enjoy the present. We do not enjoy the small joy everyday life brings. We are constantly living and worrying about the future. This process goes on both in subconscious and conscious level.

Why don't we have a strong conviction in ourselves that while we are planning for our future, creating a safety net we would not forget to live in the present tense. This will require a constant state of awareness of our actions. It can reduce unnecessary worry, headache and hopefully improve our surroundings.

Just think about it. If one didn't care about the future and just enjoyed and worked hard to make the present more livable, enjoyable and peaceful, it would translate in to the future too.