I just read something on this subject that I find most interesting....

Heraclitus (I think) said that ALL IS FLUX...some 2000+ years ago.

Most people, I think, have come to believe this, that THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE.

If that is true, than UNCERTAINTY, is an inescapeable part of life. It is unavoidable ; the very essence of life must be in its the unpredictable and the unintended twists and turns, the unforseen changes.

Therefore, unless we wish to be tossed about like so much flotsam on these waves of inescapeable change, we must place ourselves IN THE MIDST OF CHANGE. We must ride the current of change, rather than swim against it.

Ironically (and this is where the PARADOX part comes in) Risk-Taking is seen as going AGAINST the current, taking the hard road against higher odds.

In a world of CONSTANT CHANGE, however, a world where "WE CAN NEVER STEP INTO THE SAME RIVER TWICE"..... taking RISKS is actually just accepting this flow of change and aligning ourselves with it.....which, though we may SEE it as reckless endangernment, is the safest way to cope in an uncertain world.

To take a risk is to plunge into circumstances we cannot absolutely control, but the SAD FACT is that that those circumstances we actually CAN control and (what little AUTONOMY that control actually allows is) are so inisgnicant that it's hardy worth the effort.

so, in a world of constant change, RISK-TAKING is in truth a form of SAFETY, because it accepts this world for what it is.

CONVENTIONAL SAFETY is where the true DANGER lies, because it denies the world.

The sort of risks that put one in a position to control one's lot...are those that attempt tp add something of VALUE to the world.

So....paradoxically risk provides us with the greatest control over a changing world and maximises our chances of achieving a truly meaningful personal satisfaction.

and maybe saving those whales...