We cling to predictability, try to find safety in laws and ordinances (there are more of them every day; what a morass to navigate and enforce), and more warning labels come out all the time. From notifications about how to wear your bike helmet safely, to signs meant to prevent young children from ingesting small toy parts, from signs to keep us from jumping into a 3' deep pool, to labeling on your nutfree cereal that it was processed in a facility that does process tree nuts, to shots that are supposed to safeguard us from everything and anything (and there are more of those all the time as well), and insurance for everything including life (although that one can't give you your life back if you lose it), we have become a society obsessed with safety.
Most of us want to be in total control of our life, prevent it from bringing us unpredictable situations, rolling along nicely and rather boringly (and then people go on these crazy adventure vacations where they can live a bit of that letting go in a somewhat controlled environment and under supervision; so ironic).
They say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." It is only natural that we wouldn't willingly and knowingly subject ourselves to some of the harder lessons we may have learned, although in hindsight these may turn out to have been valuable, character building, or, as my husband says, "built hair on our chest."
On the flipside this cautiousness and timidity prevents us from living life to the fullest and may keep some beautiful opportunities at bay the universe may otherwise send our way in its infinite wisdom. There are many situations where I couldn't have planned things better than the universe did for me. Our move this past summer ended up happening almost simultaneously with the closing on our old house. Yet, we put the house on the market back in the fall of last year for fear of not finding a buyer in time. If we really had sold the house any earlier either we or the buyer would have been in trouble.
I often now put out to the universe a wish for the most benevolent outcome of a particular situation. And then I watch and see what happens and let things unfold. Trust yourself, trust the universe, try sending out this "most benevolent thing," but refrain from putting the breaks on life too much. You might just miss out on some beautiful moments and some great opportunities.