"1. Security can be boring. It might make us feel more comfortable to always know where we are headed, to plan for a future that we expect to turn out a certain way, to be in uneventful but predictable relationships. But what we're trading for comfort is passion and excitement. Oh, yeah, we buy those romance novels by the barrel to make up for it. But when all is said and done, wouldn't we prefer to have an actual rather than vicarious experience of the intensity of life? As humans, we tend to distrust the unknown. As optimystics, we move to redefine the unknown as the unexplored. As explorers of life, optimystics can't afford to be tied to the apron strings of security. This doesn't mean that optimystics can't make money or have successful careers or stable, fulfilling, long-term relationships. It just means that they are willing to take risks, in the spirit of adventure, in order to fully experience the adventure of the spirit.
"2. Security can be a prison in disguise. We might have a Porsche or a great big house or a $20,000 stereo system. We might have a nice fat pension waiting for us at the end of the retirement rainbow. On the other hand, we might be living simply or getting by on just enough. The question to ask ourselves is, In trying to acquire material security or in just trying to maintain the status quo, are we genuinely happy? To what have we become attached in order to maintain our current lifestyle? Has our work become our prison? Are we chained to our career? Are we stressed, worn out, and headed for a heart attack but terrified to leave for fear of losing our security? And what about our personal life? Are our relationships with our spouse, our children, our friends fulfilling? Do we have enough time and energy to make them so? Are we too busy at the job or business to do the things we really want to do, to be the person we really want to be with those we love? Security has no meaning whatsoever if pursuing it prevents us from living the life we really dream of living, and if it prevents us from realizing our true potential as physical and spiritual beings.
"3. Security can be a con artist. Just when you think you've got it, look out — it's gone. Because life is temporary, anything of the Earth is only on loan to us, including our own bodies. So no amount of financial security, not even the perfect relationship, can give us security.
"You have believed in security, and it has let you down. You have invested so much in the pursuit of security, only to discover that there's no such thing. Now what?
"4. Security can take us away from our real purpose. It is a siren along the spiritual journey, singing to us from the Prudential Rock, luring us into believing that there is actually such a thing as 'life insurance.' In search of security, we follow its call instead of the song of our own hearts and souls. We forget what we're here for; we ignore our dreams. And we ignore the call of our mystic selves to become centered in faith, to experience the true security of oneness with the divine, to invest in the only reliable institution left in the world — God's Savings and Loan. In pursuit of a trust, have we forgotten how to trust — in the higher spiritual power that will always rescue us, no matter how dire our circumstances? What greater security can there be than the revelation that we are more than our bodies, more than our physical existence — that we really cannot and do not die, except to our earthly illusions?
"Optimystics know that uncertainty is the prelude to discovery, and discovery is the prelude to growth. In other words, uncertainty can be a real blessing. It can propel us in new directions. It can make us take risks and live more radically, more intensely. Uncertainty can turn us in the direction of our spiritual selves; so often it is a security crisis in our lives that brings us to spiritual awakening and peace. Uncertainty may force us to face our fragility, giving us the opportunity to lay down the burden of our illusions of control — to face life naked but free, open to a new destiny. We are humbled, more reverent toward a higher power, more appreciative of the things and people that contribute to our sense of well-being. Optimystics believe that God likes to rattle us a little, perhaps because the noise reminds us of his or her presence!"
