During the course of your life you will arrive in liminal spaces many times where you finish one chapter in your life but the next one hasn’t started yet or when you know you need to make changes but don’t know what to do or are avoiding change. Being in a liminal time in your life can make you feel fear, worry, anxiety, uncertainty and even panic. You feel the fear because this is an incredible and powerful window of opportunity.

Merry. Happy. Jolly. Joy. These are some of the most used words at this time of year.

But the reality for many people is that they don’t feel merry, happy, jolly or joyful. They are experiencing sadness, grief, loneliness, depression and anxiety. This might be you too.

These feelings can be exacerbated at this time of year because there is an expectation and focus on being festive and joyful to the exclusion of these other feelings that are ignored or pushed aside or even shamed (along the lines of “It’s Christmas! Be happy!”) These other feelings want and deserve care, attention and a place at the table as well.

Not feeling safe is at the core of many of your struggles, worries and problems. But even if your life feels okay and you think you feel pretty safe, you will still be affected by a lack of safety, you just might not realise it. In this article, I’ll reveal how lack of safety exists and how it affects you.

Not feeling safe is more common than you realise. You might not know that you don’t feel fully safe or that what you’re really seeking though your goals and actions in the world is deeper levels of safety. So here’s my list of 31 signs that a lack of safety might be impacting your life.

Many people don’t feel truly safe, they just don’t know that’s what they are experiencing. Here's my definition of safety and the 5 core components that contribute to feeling safe to help you understand what it means to be safe and assess how safe you feel.