Dare We Assume?

“I dare you to…”

Dare? What does the word mean? Challenge, risk, taunt, all explanations of a solicited action, but how does it apply to us? What if we comply with the inference it makes? What if we do not? We are being asked to perform an act we agree with, or one which we cannot condone. Bullying is a good example. It asks us to endorse an action we may not condone, but allow, because we are not the recipient of the force behind the request. We in fact become complicit by doing or saying nothing, and yet the practice and the acceptance occur daily.

When was the last time you were coerced, dared, to do something constructive? Requests are normally reserved for an effort to reinforce a need to justify an action. Turn off the lights, turn on the sprinkler, be quiet, all efforts to enforce a need. What would happen if we were asked to become kinder, more observant, forgiving? Would we react with the same mechanical response we provided when challenged to turn on the light?

Is it possible to dare ourselves to do better, be better? I believe it is possible, if we are reminded to do so. It is not a condition we take to readily as it deviates from a normalcy we find comforting. Comfort is difficult to relinquish, because it provides the immediate gratification we so desperately seek. Do we dare ourselves, to be comfortable? Probably not. 

We should learn to dare ourselves to do many more things, than we normally consider. We don’t, because we find the idea of stimulating ourselves to do something new, different, frightening, abnormal. It requires for most of us, the impetus of another asking us to change. Change, like a dare, is challenging, because it requires a self-determined process for improvement. The majority of us never think of improvement as being essential to evolving as a person, but it is. We tend to change slowly, so as not to frighten ourselves. Rarely do we throw down the gauntlet and say, “I am going to improve the way I perform my duties, live my life.”  We tend to take a negative route, “I quit!” It is far easier than to contemplate change.

Let us consider the risk and allure of a dare. We are being asked to do something we would not normally do, or we are asking another to do something they would not normally do. Why? We do not adapt well to change, therefore accepting a dare or requesting one is asking that we step outside our normalcy and attempt to be someone we are not. So why do we consider it?

Challenges invoke a response in us that is reminiscent of a person lifting a car to free someone trapped beneath. It is normally not a consideration, but when confronted by a problem that we have given no logical thought to, we act on emotion, adrenalin, a spirit we are unaware of, and simply react. We have not considered the why or how, but only of the task at hand. We have triggered a response to a dare we did not recognize as such, until afterwards. We did not challenge or dare ourselves to do something we would normally not even consider. Something inside us did that for us. 

Would it be possible to dare ourselves to capture the power and strength of that unused resource, to improve our lives? Does our reserve of supernatural power become activated only when fear is present. Our instinct to survive is strong, but is it instinct alone activated by fear, that we have access to.

Sports figures, have addressed this issue on many occasions when asked how they rose to the occasion, allowing their team to capture victory. The answer is always the same. It is a mental attitude that transfers its power to the physical realm, allowing extraordinary feats that appear to surpass the normal physical abilities of a person. 

So, is it possible to challenge ourselves to be more than we believe we are capable of? The evidence suggests that it is possible to be more than we assume. Our potential is stifled only by our lack of will or imagination. 

We of course are limited by the physical aspects of being human. Pain, suffering, fatigue, all are a constant reminder of our fallibility, but also are shown to have been overcome by our minds ability to demand more of our bodies, than normally we would ask.

The majority of our experience with dares, grapples with being asked to do something we normally would not do. We have self-imposed restrictions we have placed on ourselves for one reason or another.  They are responsible for us not crossing a line we believe leads to being uncomfortable or possibly illegal.

We associate the word dare with an action that is abnormal. We don’t usually taunt someone to do something we know is not acceptable, or uncomfortable, but we do allow others to propagate injustice and say nothing, do nothing. Does that make us complicit, or simply indifferent.

I can’t help but wonder if it is possible to reverse the process of intimidation by daring people to be different. Would it be possible for us to become tolerant, inclusive, even forgiving, if we challenged ourselves to be. If we dared ourselves to be more than we believe we are. 

If a two-hundred-pound man can pick up a two-thousand-pound vehicle, isn’t it possible that we are capable of challenging our own beliefs and become more accepting of others, their customs, attitudes, dreams. We are after all capable of refusing to participate in wars, apartheid, crimes against humanity, shouldn’t we be able to accept tolerance and understanding as a means to accepting a dare we all share, life.

I believe it necessary to dare ourselves to be personally involved in the injustice in our world by recognizing the intent of the dare. Should we be lulled into accepting prejudice and hate as normal or challenge ourselves to expect more. Dare ourselves to be better than we believe possible, and expect the same of others. 

When we are dared to look the other way when we see injustice, we are dared to be complicit in advocating challenges only of a negative nature, and abandon our ability or desire to expect better from ourselves, and others.