Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. ---Gail Sheehy
Gail Sheehy was an American journalist and writer who sadly passed away this past August from pneumonia at age 83...regrettably I haven't read any of her works, which deal with numerous ongoing topics in current society including many politically-themed pieces...but her most renowned books are the Passages series focusing on helping more elderly folks (like me) have more fulfilling lives. I picked her above quote because it is so true, and on more than one level: let me explain...
On a political or national level, I hear a lot of talk these days about how people need to be secure in the areas of their lives that affect them the most...health care reigns prominently in these discussions. But in any industry that wants to grow and increase its quality of goods and services while making them available to the widest possible group of consumers, there is a need for those running the companies to be able to make free choices as to where they place their money and emphasis, based on the needs of those purchasing their products. In times of emergencies like war or pandemic, successful companies built upon this freedom to grow have then been able to divert their goals to producing much-needed weapons, equipment, and, yes, vaccines: you don't build such organizations from scratch, by governmental decree. But within all this is the element of the core, basic economic decision, based on scarcity of product and demand and the profit motive...and with it all comes an element of risk. I'm one of those Americans who feel that health care should be affordable to all and reform of the system is a good thing...but you don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater: profit-seeking, risk-taking companies have gotten us here to the point where effective vaccines for this ongoing scourge of this brand-new form of coronavirus have been developed in awe-inspiring, record time...
On a more personal level, I think that growth is both a process of construction and destruction. Stress, which tears me down physically and mentally, can result in a replacement of body and mind that is stronger and more fulfilling than before if I go about it in an intelligent manner...but it does involve stepping out of that comfort zone and sometimes out on what seems to be a treacherous, narrow ledge up high. Physical exertion through exercise or labor can be seen as a temporary surrender of security as the body is taxed, but after recovery growth has occurred. Facing down stressful personal storms and getting through them gives me a sense of lack of security when it's all going on, but on the other side I am more equipped to handle future crises. And sometimes growth in career or relationships can be a little scary as they take me out of my routines and old habits and force me to subject myself to possible failure and rejection. There's nothing more secure, I suppose, than never trying anything new, but it's also stagnating...
Maybe I should try reading something Gail Sheehy has written...I'm sure some of her stuff is in the library...
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