Curious about Daring: How Daring Are You? When, How and Why Does It Work for You?

Definition of Daring: Boldness; fearlessness; adventurousness; also, a daring act.

“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” - Cecil Beaton, English photographer

We all experience and enjoy our comfort zones. When we dare to step out of one – or more – we are not so comfortable. It is a challenge to be different and not always “play it safe.” I submit to you, however, that daring will add excitement and a new dimension to your life. By daring to be different, you will enhance your confidence and, in most cases, reap new rewards.

The American author, Alvin Toffler wrote, “It is better to err on the side of daring than the side of caution.”

What daring adventures have you participated in? They don’t have to be out of the ordinary like walking across hot coals with Tony Robbins, which I did in 1989 and will never forget. They can be trying a new machine at the gym or participating in a fitness class where you feel uncoordinated to start with. Or, how about attending a networking event or a party and walking up to a stranger and introducing yourself. I have met some of the most interesting people this way.

You don’t have to be bizarre, but if you add a new touch to your clothing, change your hair style or dare to investigate a new career option, you will be amazed by how light hearted you will feel. How about trying a different shopping center, a new restaurant, or visiting a museum you haven’t been to before? Set aside a couple of hours a week for Julia Cameron’s suggested artist’s date where you try something new all on you own. I dare you!

The daring quotations were wonderful and inspiring:

• “If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just.” - Anita Roddick, English businesswoman
• “Take the obvious, add a cupful of brains, a generous pinch of imagination, a bucketful of courage and daring, stir well and bring to a boil.” - Bernard Baruch, American businessman
• “All serious daring starts from within.” - Eudora Welty, American author
• “Faith is not trying to believe something regardless of the evidence. Faith is daring to do something regardless of the consequences.” - Sherwood Eddy, American author

And, a few more:

• “In crises the most daring course is often safest.” - Henry A. Kissinger, American statesman
• “For strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the imagination.” - Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer
• “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.” - Helen Keller, American author
• “No crime is so great as daring to excel.” - Winston Churchill, English statesman

A couple for the rest of your week:

“Whatever there be of progress in life comes not through adaptation but through daring.” - Henry Miller, American Author

“Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet

Let me know what you have dared to do. I love hearing from you!