I’ve always believed that there is no such thing as true safety. For true safety to exist you would have to remove all risk from life.

That’s not possible!

Some background.

Here’s a little bit about me just for the sake of…well…talking about me.

I graduated from high school in 1988 (no geriatric jokes allowed) I immediately joined the Montana Army National Guard and completed my advanced initial training as an attack helicopter repairer.

Fast forward 32 years (give or take a few years) and I’ve been retired from the guard for 10 years. However, during my time in the guard I was qualified to work on four different airframes and fly on three of them. I became a flight instructor on two different airframes and served on two deployments (even though one of those probably shouldn’t count because the Army didn’t know what to do with us).

During all those years in aviation I racked up more than 1500 accident free hours in the air. I conducted high risk missions all over the United States as well as other continents. Also spent several weeks a year fighting forest fires while hanging out of the back of a Black Hawk.

That was my weekend job, for my full time job I spent several years maintaining aircraft for the counter drug program, then became a federal technician maintaining Black Hawks.

Get to the point Already!

Just a side note: when the recruiters tell you “it’s part time service” …don’t believe them…just sayin.

With all of that said, I’m not writing this to talk about how great I was back in the day. As blessed as I was to be born in a country that allows us the opportunity to have amazing careers like that, I’m writing all of this for context.

You see, in aviation safety isn’t just a word, it’s a religion. Any form of maintenance done on an aircraft is thoroughly document and inspected. Every flight crew member goes through countless hours of training before they can fly without an instructor. Every mission, no matter how mundane, is meticulously planned, safety embeds every aspect of the culture.

Yet aircraft still crash, we still lose expensive machines and amazing people, aviation is high risk. Every person who sets foot on an army helicopter understands that.

My point is this, looking back on it, we weren’t “being safe” as much as we were preparing for that inevitable time when something went wrong. Because the only way to be “safe” would have been to never set foot on an aircraft, and suffice to say, the Amy never had to force us to fly.

Uhh…ok, wrap it up?

The moral of the story goes something like this.

 Now is probably not the best time for us to start a business. However, when is a good time. 

Perfectly healthy people can lock themselves away in their homes for fear of a virus. Yet, they still get the virus.

People can hide and do nothing while other people burn down cities. Yet the city still burns down around them.

People sit in their homes because the sun might give them cancer, or they might fall and hurt themselves, or a bear might attack them. Yet, they die miserable slow deaths from obesity at 20 years old.

I’m not telling you to go out and be reckless and stupid, I’m simply saying proper precautions and preparation can turn something “dangerous” into an adventure.  

In the end safety is truly an illusion, be prepared, get off your butts, and get out and enjoy this big beautiful world.

Because, in the end the only thing that we are born with is time, and we have no idea how much is in the bank.

Don’t squander that gift living in fear!

That’s what I mean when I say:

Don’t be safe! Be Prepared!

Thanks for reading,

Mike