Countdown to Brave

Try 24 things that are worth the risk.

When most think about risk, they think danger. And while safety is a critical aspect of keeping our amazing body alive, expressing and experiencing the world in exhilarating ways is also one of the great gifts we have. There are all types of risks we can take: some physical, some emotional, some that are over in the moment, and some that may take a lifetime to experience. Here are 24 that we feel are worth making it onto your must-do list. As the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.”

DO

  1. Swim in the ocean with a guide and a few sharks, eels or stingrays. Dive into the vast, strange, foreign world of the sea and be prepared to be humbled.
  2. Write a book about your life or an expertise and publish it. You have something valuable to say.
  3. Stand up for something that matters: truth, justice, human rights. The world needs you.
  4. Give a speech to an audience or perform in public. Our voice reveals who we are.
  5. Make out with your loved one, somewhere in public. Push your comfort zone on your PDA level.
  6. Get physical. Climb that mountain, jump off that bridge (with a bungee!) or parasail off a cliff. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the biggest causes of death are heart disease, cancer, stroke and chronic respiratory disease and then accidents, Alzheimer’s and then diabetes. Perhaps it’s safer to go for the gusto.

EXPERIENCE

  1. Freedom from addiction. Go cold turkey and give up your bad habit. Is it coffee or sugar, or wine or your phone? Deal with it and experience the fullness of yourself.
  2. Off-the-grid living. Take a week (or a month if you are brave) and go off-grid, without electricity, internet, phone, Facebook or Instagram, Netflix or any communication—just you and that big, open mind.
  3. Primal fear. What is it that scares you most? Snakes, spiders, clowns? Immerse yourself.
  4. Death. Be part of hospice care and guide someone through their end-of-life transition.
  5. Dance. Boogie all night long in a nightclub in a foreign country.
  6. Upside down. Do the scary roller coaster at the fair. Like it or not, you walk away with a sense of gratitude for gravity.

SEE, FEEL, TASTE

  1. Awe. This is a beautiful world. Plan a night underneath the stars and, if possible, near the Northern Lights and get a sense of how incredible our planet is.
  2. Coffee and a sunrise in the middle of an ocean.
  3. Vulnerability in love. Be the first to tell someone how you really feel.
  4. Flat broke and OK. What if you had no money? How would you survive? What would you eat and what would you do? Try spending nothing for one week—not a dime. Can you make it through the week?
  5. Something that you would never ever try eating, like a bug. Our taste buds offer a world of experience.
  6. Hunger. Fast for a day or two or three. Do it safely, under guidance from a physician, but just do it. As you eat less, you will find that you can once again feel your body and its true signals.

BE

  1. Important to a child—as a parent or as a mentor.
  2. Famous. Secure a part as an extra in a movie or start a YouTube video blog.
  3. Exposed. Redefine your relationship to your birthday suit. Get naked, or at least close to it—shave your head as an alternative and donate your hair to a charity that makes wigs for cancer patients.
  4. Homeless. Take a period of time and try living without any place to live. Humbled, find a way to support those who are homeless. Sponsor a family or serve in a soup kitchen. Be grateful for all the abundance in your life.
  5. Committed. Take something all the way home: your music, your art, fitness, your career, whatever it might be, commit to being the best and set yourself up for the most.
  6. Truthful. Personal integrity is a deep, healthy relationship with yourself, and it requires being on the up-and-up in all areas of your life. Deception eats at our core. Tell the truth, be honest and experience peace of mind.

Photo credit: Death To the Stock Photo 1052