Amy Collette

Audacity is my new favorite word. It implies a sassines – an outrageous willingness to try. It even hints of a daredevil attitude.

I recently attempted a physical feat I wasn’t sure I could handle. My friends and my husband have done it for years, but I had lots of excuses why I couldn’t. My fitness isn’t good enough, I don’t have the right bike, etc. what I really had was plenty of fear that I just wasn’t capable. There’s also some ego fear thrown in there – what would everybody think if I “wimped out?”

But I tried it- a 150-mile bike ride over two days. At the end of the first day, I had a crisis. The anxiety took over and convinced me that I couldn’t finish. I actually felt fine physically – I was just tired and couldn’t imagine doing it all over the next day.

A wise voice (my husband’s) finally said, “it’ll look different in the morning – get some sleep and decide then.” Fortunately, that advice got me through the night and the next day, I got on my bike again with fresh hope.

Finishing that ride taught me a lot. Mostly that if I had the audacity to try it, I just might make it. Here we are at the finish line:

Audacity is the instant answer to whatever you fear. I invite you to try something that stretches your idea of yourself. What if you try it? What if you fail? What if – gasp – you succeed? Either way, you’ll learn something.

Please share your story of audacity in the comments.