On Being Daring

We’ve been on book tour, and we are having a terrific time learning about green rooms (that’s where you wait until the producer calls you in for your four minutes in front of the camera); how to attach a microphone to your clothing; and how to be relaxed and casual on TV, which turns out to be both harder and easier than we thought. This morning we did a segment on the 10! Show in Philadelphia, and what do you know, they didn’t ask us our favorite question, which is What is a Daring Girl?

Without further ado, then, a few thoughts on what it takes to be daring.

• Daring means something different for each one of us. For some, it might be taking on a physical challenge like a road race or marathon, riding a roller coaster (that’s one I haven’t done yet) or white water rafting. Actually, I haven’t done any of these. For many others, challenges are smaller and less dramatic, but as daring to overcome. Daring might mean speaking up when you have something important to say and are scared to say it. It might mean using your voice to stick up for some one who is being teased or mistreated.
• A daring girl wakes up each morning and sees that day as an opportunity for fun and adventure.
• A daring girl figures out her dreams and follows them, which can be harder than it seems. There are so many distractions around us, and girls in particular (though we know that some boys, and grown men and women will identify with this too), spend a great deal of time pleasing others. This came up in a recent report from Girls, Inc, which showed that girls feel pressure and stress to gain everyone’s approval. In all the hubbub that surrounds us, it can be hard to focus on our own dreams and passions, as a daring girl must!
• Daring girls try to be brave. We don’t just mean at the dentist, although that’s good too. Daring girls go beyond the classic meaning of bravery, which denies emotion, because they know a brave moment can also be incredibly scary. In fact, bravery means feeling the fear, but going ahead anyway. Bravery isn’t something we usually associate with girls but it is a key part of being daring, and it can be public, or very interior.
• Our final thought for today: In this pressure-filled, high-paced world of ours, daring—no matter what your age—can mean tossing the pressure to the wind and  going out play. Try to volley a tetherball or shoot hoops; make a clock that runs off lemons; gather your friends together to make a spy team—make sure someone brings a scooter to relay information; or learn about ancient queens or how to plant a secret garden, or how to play a good game of darts. That’s the message of the Daring Book for Girls, (and we explain how to do all these things, and more. That’s a message that goes beyond girlhood, and beyond gender. 

We’ll share more thoughts in a later post, but you can tell that we think daring is an amazing word. Daring is a spirit that can infuse a well-lived life.

What do you think? What in your life feels daring? What might you add to this list?

 

Visit the Bright Ideas by Bestselling Authors group on Gather >>Visit the Bright Ideas by Bestselling Authors group on Gather >>
Become a Group Member >>
Invite Your Friends >>