Flirting with disaster

P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
E-mail: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

Flirting With Disaster
Friends, success at anything always involves risk. That's why people who need to lose weight are told to consult a doctor before starting a vigorous exercise program. It's why most of us encourage our children or friends to seek premarital counselling before making such an all-encompassing commitment as marriage. Investing in the stock market, starting a business, leaving one job for another one - do you know anything that doesn't entail a degree of risk? Frankly, I don't think I would want to live in a world where everyday outcomes were guaranteed. And it isn't just that some people are willing to extend themselves for the "rush" an adventure can supply. It is the more fundamental fact that body and mind and spirit need challenge in order to learn, stretch, and grow strong. Unfortunately, some people confuse a healthy sense of challenge with the foolish tendency some of us have to tempt fate. In fact, I saw a segment on the evening news the other night that prompted me to reflect on the difference between the two. The segment was about this year's running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The phenomenon came to international attention when Ernest Hemingway described it in his novel "The Sun Also Rises". This event now draws people from all over the world. In one person's opinion, running through narrow streets on alcohol-induced bravado to escape the charge of a half-dozen remarkably powerful and extremely unhappy bulls crosses the line of taking risks or seeking adventure. It's something very different from courage or bravery. It is better called flirting with disaster. If there is risk in exercising to lose weight or to improve cardiac function, smoking or overeating or drinking to excess is flirting with disaster. If danger lurks in the uncertain twists and turns of life in so complex a relationship as marriage, abuse or neglect or philandering is to invite heartache. If sacrifice or even persecution is involved in the life-pilgrimage that is faith, chaos and death are certain to come to a life that is void of spiritual foundation. So let me encourage you today not to live to your fears. Yes, there is always the possibility things won't work out. There are dangers ranging from potholes to cliffs on every highway of life. But the alternative to fear is not false courage at the bottom of a bottle or arrogance in making decisions. It is bold resolve rooted in humble faith. Friend, in your own life calculations, it might help to ask if the option you see is taking a risk or flirting with disaster, walking by faith or running with the bulls. The one can be legitimate and holy; the other stands to leave you gored and bleeding. Real success begins with life's realities - its limitations and changes, its surprises and unexpected turns, its timed nature and death. If you would like for me to send you a FREE copy of the "THE SUCCESS PLAN", containing eight important decisions, I'd be pleased to do so. Just write to me at: P.O. Box 1540, Albany, WA 6331. Phone/Fax: (08) 9841 8418. Email: abl-alb@omninet.net.au Have a great day!

Flirting With Disaster

Friends, success at anything always involves risk. That's why people who need to lose weight are told to consult a doctor before starting a vigorous exercise program. It's why most of us encourage our children or friends to seek premarital counselling before making such an all-encompassing commitment as marriage.

Investing in the stock market, starting a business, leaving one job for another one - do you know anything that doesn't entail a degree of risk? Frankly, I don't think I would want to live in a world where everyday outcomes were guaranteed. And it isn't just that some people are willing to extend themselves for the "rush" an adventure can supply. It is the more fundamental fact that body and mind and spirit need challenge in order to learn, stretch, and grow strong.

Unfortunately, some people confuse a healthy sense of challenge with the foolish tendency some of us have to tempt fate. In fact, I saw a segment on the evening news the other night that prompted me to reflect on the difference between the two.

The segment was about this year's running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The phenomenon came to international attention when Ernest Hemingway described it in his novel "The Sun Also Rises". This event now draws people from all over the world.

In one person's opinion, running through narrow streets on alcohol-induced bravado to escape the charge of a half-dozen remarkably powerful and extremely unhappy bulls crosses the line of taking risks or seeking adventure. It's something very different from courage or bravery. It is better called flirting with disaster.

If there is risk in exercising to lose weight or to improve cardiac function, smoking or overeating or drinking to excess is flirting with disaster. If danger lurks in the uncertain twists and turns of life in so complex a relationship as marriage, abuse or neglect or philandering is to invite heartache. If sacrifice or even persecution is involved in the life-pilgrimage that is faith, chaos and death are certain to come to a life that is void of spiritual foundation.

So let me encourage you today not to live to your fears. Yes, there is always the possibility things won't work out. There are dangers ranging from potholes to cliffs on every highway of life. But the alternative to fear is not false courage at the bottom of a bottle or arrogance in making decisions. It is bold resolve rooted in humble faith.

Friend, in your own life calculations, it might help to ask if the option you see is taking a risk or flirting with disaster, walking by faith or running with the bulls. The one can be legitimate and holy; the other stands to leave you gored and bleeding. Real success begins with life's realities - its limitations and changes, its surprises and unexpected turns, its timed nature and death. If you would like for me to send you a FREE copy of the "THE SUCCESS PLAN", containing eight important decisions, I'd be pleased to do so. Just write to me at: P.O. Box 1540, Albany, WA 6331. Phone/Fax: (08) 9841 8418. Email: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

Have a great day!