Dangers don’t always feel dangerous. 

Activities that are ordinary and familiar don’t seem dangerous: texting while walking, drinking sugary soda, not managing high blood pressure.

I was astonished to read that a kitchen sponge carries more germs than a toilet seat! 

The CIA’s standing operating procedure held that operatives shouldn’t wear seat belts in a hostile environment, in case they needed to bail out of the car during an ambush. Then statisticians realized that more operatives were being killed by car accidents than by terrorist attacks.

 As I go through my days, and make my decisions, I remind myself that dangers don’t always feel dangerous. Something that I’ve done a thousand times, and do every day, like crossing the street, is far more risky than something that feels more dangerous, such as flying in an airplane.

 When an activity feels ordinary, it doesn’t feel dangerous, and that familiarity can mislead us.