I Dare You

Here we are again.
Taking a moment to pause.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Bring your shoulders up by your ears.
Now circle them down your back.
Feel the places you are connected to the good and solid earth.
Tap into the wide spaciousness inside.
Welcome to A Hit of Hope.
If you are anything like me, you hate being told what to do.
Whenever it happens, out roars the surly two-year old who stamps her foot and says, “I don’t wanna.”

Transcript

Here we are again,

Taking a moment to pause.

Inhale,

Exhale.

Bring your shoulders up by your ears.

Now circle them down your back.

Feel the places you are connected to the good and solid earth.

Tap into the wide spaciousness inside.

Welcome to a hit of hope.

If you are anything like me,

You hate being told what to do.

Whenever it happens,

Out roars the surly two-year-old who stamps her foot and says,

I don't wanna.

And yet at the beginning of this,

I told you to inhale,

Exhale.

And did you do it?

I hope so.

But why?

Because you probably had a feeling that what I was telling you was going to be a good thing,

A way to help you cope,

A way to help you get through.

Inhale,

Exhale.

We do not like being told what to do.

And yet I think we all know that this is critical,

That we follow what we are being told to do.

And so I want to think of this in a different way.

When you were a teenager,

Did you ever do something you never would have done simply because someone dared you to do it?

I did.

Was it always something smart or good?

No,

Definitely not.

But what if we take this moment to dare ourselves?

Why would we do that?

Because I don't know about you,

But in many ways,

I feel powerless right now,

As if I have no agency,

No ability to do or act.

And that can be frustrating and demoralizing.

So I am going to dare you to give you some power,

To give you some agency,

To give you some work to do.

I dare you to sit.

I dare you to brave the wilderness inside.

Inhale,

Exhale.

I dare you to love yourself.

Without condition,

Without hesitation.

I dare you to love you.

I dare you to name your gifts.

I dare you to name your dreams.

I dare you to be vulnerable,

To speak of your fears.

I dare you to ask someone else to speak of their fears.

And I dare you to listen.

Really listen.

I dare you to be here now.

I dare you to let go of the past,

To quit worrying about the future.

I dare you to name all of the things you have to be grateful for.

I mean it.

Name all of the things you have to be grateful for.

That list can go on and on and on.

I dare you to breathe.

I dare you to hold on to your center.

If you are facing this alone,

I dare you to treat yourself as if you are the love of your life.

Because you know what?

You are the love of your life.

If you are facing this with others,

I dare you to treat them as if they are the loves of your life,

No matter what they might be doing.

I dare you to face this with a softness,

A slight smile at your lips,

An opening at your heart.

I dare you to use this rare and oh so weird time to be you.

The wise you.

The beautiful you that you already are.

And I dare us all to see this as an edge,

A collective learning edge where we decide who we are,

And we will decide who we want to be and what we will do next.

Inhale.

Exhale.

I dare you to live in love and light and hope.

Namaste.

Reviews

Wow 😮 the universe did not disappoint on sending me this.
I woke this morning feeling disappointed and undeserving of love, but this nudged me and reminded me of my task, to dare to love me as I was the love of my life. Thank you 🙏 🦋✨

The rebel in me honours the rebel in you. I’m going to listen to this twice and call it a double dog dare. Bless your cotton socks, Betsy. 🤓🥴🧚🏾🧚🏻‍♂️🧚🏼‍♀️

All the good, all the great dares! Thank you so so much ❤️

daring to just live🌺

Oddly, powerless is the last thing I feel right now, as life aligns with my desires and manifestation seems automatic and inevitable. Life is truly happening FOR me, rather than to me. So why is it still so difficult to feel that deep and abiding love for myself? Do I truly think myself so unworthy and undeserving?
Why do I still judge myself so harshly when I am finally to the point where I don't judge others at all?
Why is loving Matthew so damned hard?

Exactly what I needed to hear first thing this morning. Thank you. ❤ I am grateful for all you create and share.

So good, thanks!

Wow, I wish many people will listen to this, to heal & live in light and love, thank you

I felt like okay, yeah, a dare to breathe and sit and turn inward, I could probably do that. But wait, love myself? Name all the good stuff about me? I should've known you'd make it a lot harder than just sitting. And it makes me wonder why so many of us has a problem with loving ourselves, how deeply ingrained it must be not do it. Since this is a dare, I don't have to listen to the tapes in my head going on and on about how we should be humble, never prideful in any way... but why not? I know that loving myself -- even just liking myself -- will go a long way toward helping myself feel better in many aspects of my life. Thank you for this caring push.

This one cuts right to the bone. You’re completely right about using a gratitude list. It works for me like nothing else. It turns my selfish, self centered state of mind upside down and lets my head and hear fill with love and gratitude. At the risk of pumping up you’re ego too much Betsy, you’re knocking these hits of hope out of the park. I love your honesty and willingness to wade into the swamp, but always bring us back to the point - we all need a hit of hope. You’re right there at the top of my gratitude list today. Thank you. I am grateful.

Thanks so much!!
That was exactly what I needed today 😊