“My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying.”

“A Microlife is a unit of risk representing half an hour change of life expectancy.”  This unit was created to look at different health risks as measured over broad average lifespans and actuarial life expectancy.  There is science behind this, but it’s really more of a way to communicate to each other different levels of risk and the impact those risks can have on our lives.  A half hour doesn’t seem like much until we consider that the thing we enjoy the most and missing out another half hour of that?  And then there are Micromorts.  Micromorts are units of risk that define a one in one million chance of dying from that activity.  One in a million, well that seems pretty safe, but is it really? Units of risk have always been hard to describe and even harder for us to understand.  When we say that is “risky business” some heed the warnings and others ignore the advice and plow forward.  I remember the first time I ever met an executive who was a Chief Risk Officer.  He was brilliant.  And he looked at the world in a different way.  He taught me that one can be cognizant of risk and manage it without being negative, pessimistic or overly cautious.  I loved to hear him say after his analysis of a situation, “That’s a risk worth taking”.

What risks are we taking in our work? If we had units of “microwork” that we could analyze to understand what the career-shortening impact an action, decision or word might have, maybe we would be smarter about what we do on the job?  Daily we read and hear about those who shortened their careers significantly because they engaged in “risky business”.  As believers we are fortunate to have God’s Word, the Holy Spirit and others to call upon to help us decide what is too risky.  So, when we decide to go it alone, it’s likely a risk not worth taking!

Reference:  Proverbs 3:1-2 (New Living Translation)