Comment by marvin

I think the confusion is in the definition of "safe" - when I read "safe", I understand it to mean "will not cause major injury, great financial loss or permanent poverty".

Most people considering a safe vs. adventurous route mistakes this kind of safety with "will not cause any emotional distress". In a modern guy's head, straying from "strictly" safe feels as dangerous as straying from "emotionally safe", probably because our modern society doesn't prepare us to deal with any reasonable amount of pain.

A "physically and financially" safe adventure isn't an oxymoron, even in business. But in most cases, adventure entails a certain amount of distress between the successes. For instance, I fly airplanes for fun. I'm pretty sure this hobby will never hurt me, but it sure as hell doesn't always feel like that.