Since starting MyDailyDare, friends and family have graciously offered ideas of challenges I can try to overcome.  Some friends (Susan) have understood that the dares need to come from me.  Sure, some fears are fairly universal, but my list needs to be of my personal bugaboos.

In listening to all the suggestions, it occurred to me that we are facing a semantic challenge.  What is fear?  Some dares are readily clear – climbing a rock wall makes me afraid.  So afraid becomes the first definition of fear.  But how about not eating a greasy cheeseburger when I’m trying to lose that last ten pounds?  Am I afraid of a cheeseburger?  Do I think it’s going to attack me with its artery-clogging fat and send me to an early grave?  No.  I am not afraid of a cheeseburger.

So that brings me to definition number two:  having the determination to achieve a preset goal.  Or, in other words, not being afraid to succeed.

But ultimately, I think for this blog, my definition of fear is not taking an action that I want to take.  If I want to run naked through downtown Kansas City, then not doing that would be defined as fear (or common sense).  The point is that, being of a sane and rational mind that would never choose to run naked anywhere, much less downtown Kansas City, then I have to assume that all actions not taken when I expressly want to take them, is fear.

Not all fears are going to be blog worthy.  Some are so pedestrian that they bore me to death.  Like last night, for instance.  I get hot flashes at night, really bad ones.  I turn the thermostat down to 64˚, but I’m still hot.  Unfortunately, I am covered head-to-toe with a sheet, blanket, and comforter because I’m afraid that spiders will crawl all over me – or the boogieman will get me – in either case, I am protected by my armor of blankets.  Last night, I didn’t do that.  I kicked off the covers and said, “to hell with it.”  I figured if the boogieman got me, then at least I wouldn’t be having hot flashes.  Anyway, I’m not going to spend an entire post writing about tackling that dare (only this paragraph).

So I may not post every single day; I want the dares to be organic, not contrived.  When they present themselves, then I will take them, but I’m not going to force it.  I think there’s more honesty that way.  In case you are interested in the ho hum dares, I have started a new section that simply lists the dare and the date it was tackled.  HoHumDares.