The I Dare You’s

The most popular “I dare you” is from the movie The Christmas Story with Ralphie. His friend Triple Dog dared his buddy to stick his tongue to a pole because he knew it would stick. The friend told him his old man didn’t know what he was talking about. He learned a hard lesson well enough after accepting the dare, and his tongue got stuck! The fire department had to come; we know how the story ended.

I never had a friend dare me to stick my tongue to a pole, nor have I ever had a friend ask me to jump off a cliff! I have heard my parents many times while growing up tell me not to jump off a cliff. They would say, “Would you jump off a cliff if your friend did?” I wouldn’t go to the extremes of cliff jumping, but they had my attention.

In life, we may have wisdom from insight, intuition, or even shyness, causing us to be more observant. There is a personality wheel we fall into, some more balanced than others. We can be more or less phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric, or melancholy in childhood. Is it a parent’s fault for not teaching all life’s lessons? Sometimes, we are taught after the fact that hard lessons come sooner than we hoped. But they cannot teach you everything, and who can blame them. In my wisdom of experience and age, I fully understand that despite the widespread belief that leaders are born (good and bad), I can assure you that leaders are made. They are made from watching, listening, and learning from parents, teachers, instructors, and friends. Leaders can be the instigators, and they can also follow a dare or a scare, learn from it, and use that knowledge to move forward in life! This is when the balance of the personality wheel blossoms. Well, let’s hope. It is far better to have a balance in life. I hope we all can find it. I feel a well-rounded life experience helps you to do so, so it’s okay to make mistakes, so long as we learn from them and grow.

Let’s look at the cliff story. It wasn’t born with you. No, it is told from generation to generation. There have been warning signs since the beginning of time. It is a test of one’s own character. Do we accept the dare, or are we easily swayed by a scare tactic? It is in both the delivery of the leaders and the confidence of the doer or will to not person. Even more profound is the cliff a parable? Is it a question or a philosophy?

Perhaps writing things down or talking them into a device and listening back can help with crossroads. Meditating, pondering, praying over them, taking the time to study and know oneself and the consequences of one’s actions are regarded. It is also most appreciated by others and, one day above all, by yourself.

I do recall doing things as a child that I never told my parents about. Looking back, I wish I had. Perhaps I was embarrassed, even at a young age, to want to say to them a dumb thing I had done. I think about the cliff analogy and realize I had only shared that phrase when I got caught with a wrong decision. Thankfully, I was good at being caught, which in turn would prevent me from a pursuit of stupidity.

For example, in Pre-K I totally recall another kid eating glue. They didn’t even see me staring. I just knew the kid’s throat was going to be sealed shut at any moment. But it didn’t. Then here comes the comment “mmmmm this is so good you should try it”. Never in my wildest dreams… I loved snow cones, cotton candy, & circus peanuts, those were tasty! I would never imagine glue tasting good or even want to try it out for that matter. Looking back I was an old school foodie at heart. But here came the Pre-K peer pressure and I caved. I turned that orange lid and put a thick layer of glue paste on my tongue. I gave zero reaction to the other kid. Just a blank stare. I realized it wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t good either. It wasn’t Fritos, or saltines or cheese wiz, it had a minty taste and unique smell. Just to rule it out I tried it one other day, just to make sure. Yep I did not want it anymore, I did not like it. I do not like Green Eggs & Ham Sam I Am! I never told my mom. Maybe that one could slip.

I will never forget the following year in grade K; it was my 2^nd dare. We could use our own blunt scissors, and I was excited about that! I wanted to cut everything, cut all the colored construction paper into shapes, and glue them. The glue’s smell, the paper’s static feel, and the cold silver square scissors were a Kindergartener’s dream come true! One of my classmates told me I would get shocked if I put the scissors in the plug outlet. I told them I would not. They dared me! Now, something did tell me not to do it, but my curiosity got the better of me, and as soon as the teacher stepped out, I turned around to a socket and put a blunt side in. YEP, WOWZERS!!! I was shocked. My whole body, even my teeth, vibrated. I felt the hair on my head dance, and my hands buzzed. I did not want to die, so I yanked my hands out of the socket, and all those electrical currents stopped. I looked at my classmate, who stated, “I told you so!”. I never told my mom. Maybe I should have shared that one.

After those memorable tidbits, I found myself not accepting dares but more like “Are you Scared?” type threats… Those were fewer and far between and eventually obsolete. Are you scared to ride on the back of a dirt bike? (I ended up falling off after I popped a wheelie). Are you scared to jump a fence? (Ended up landing on my face). Are you scared to run through a field of cows? (I ended up running into an electric fence and getting shocked). Numerous were these youth encounters, and never told my mom what she did not need to hear, or I would have never learned hard lessons, ha! I had enough small stupid things she learned about where I got the cliff parable scolding, and even still, I was not smart enough yet to stop the unknown possibilities. I suppose a chip off the old block and, thank goodness, what did not kill me made me stronger. I shared the same lesson in life and/or parable with my kids as they grew up about the old’ cliff, hoping they would be all the wiser. But somehow, that pressure gets to us. We are human; we are not perfect by any means, and sometimes bad things happen to good people, or you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time or simply be amongst lousy company. I pray you and yours will have a good outcome and seek a safe living. The only thing to dare is to be great and good and be a better version of yourself each day. Don’t be scared to do what is right and do the right things. Be good at being good. Accept corrections cheerfully and find joy in truthful living.

I’d love to hear your most memorable story as a kid who impacted you with a dare that you learned from, or even if you were the kid who gave the dares! By no means were these above all mine. I have a book full of stories of the consequences of my actions in life. To all be told throughout life. Meanwhile, what is your memory of a scare or a dare? Please share and then teach the lesson of what you learned; let’s keep this going in hopes of doing good or getting a good laugh!