Last week, 150 families were told their loved ones weren't coming home.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
One hundred and fifty families.
It's impossible to imagine the ripple effect of grief that has come with the Germanwings air crash.
We grieve for others, and with so many other disasters in the sky, it has many people questioning the safety of air travel.
We think of travel in a new light, wondering is it worth it? Is that trip to America or Europe or even interstate really safe?
The reality is, flying remains the safest mode of transport. We're more likely to be injured in the taxi driving to the airport.
We take risks every day, we just don't realise it.
Walking down the street, riding our bikes, driving our cars.
And the biggest risks we take are when we leap with our hearts - we love and bring life to the world. We let others into our hearts and give ourselves over. This is when we are most vulnerable.
We are never wholly safe but yet we live and we prosper.
In fact it is these risks which richen our lives.
When we jump on a plane, we are open to the world. We get to travel to cultures and places otherwise out of our reach.
We walk out onto new lands, smell the air thousands of miles from home, and shed light on our own lives.
As Paulo Coelho says, "Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience."