Today is the first day of Lent to a lot of Christians and even though I’m not Christian, this day, Ash Wednesday, means more to me than just “Jeez, I hope I remember not to wipe the smudges off people’s faces today.”

At one point I started celebrating lent as a way of formalizing my grief over my dad’s death. (He died at the end of Holy Week, just before Easter, 8 years ago. This date relative to the religious calendar is more about his life than mine. But that’s another story.) Otherwise, I found I would suddenly be cranky and irritable and only days before the anniversary of his death would I realize it was that time of year.

Anyway, part of some traditions anoint people with ashes on Ash Wednesday and say something like,”From dust you come, and to dust you shall return.” This to me is one of the most powerful insights we can live in the presence of.

Even from a scientific perspective (which I value) I know I’m made up of the same stuff that makes up the universe: carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and so on. The bits that make me were elsewhere before there was a “me” here and they will disperse again when I’m gone. (In fact, even as I live the cells themselves are constantly dying and being replaced while elements such as those named constantly flow into and out of this body, maintaining more or less the same relative proportions, if I’m healthy.)

I am dust, and I will return to dust.

In the meantime, how amazing it is that, borrowing from George Wald, I have acquired consciousness and can come to know myself: I am hydrogen learning about myself when I read a book about water. Wow!

The daily drama subsides in importance when I remember the Big, Big Picture. How important is what you think of me, if I am lucky, chanced into consciousness? What if I remember I’m alive and what a hoot — what a miraculous and wonder-filled hoot — that is?

Living and knowing it is amazing and wonderful and beautiful that you are alive, that life even exists, that is living.

“Surely this is a great part of our dignity . . . that we can know, and that through us matter can know itself; that beginning with protons and electrons, out of the womb of time and the vastness of space, we can begin to understand; that organized as in us, the hydrogen, the carbon, the nitrogen, the oxygen, those 16 to 21 elements, the water, the sunlight – all, having become us, can begin to understand what they are, and how they came to be.”
(George Wald, quoted in: Philip Ball, Life’s Matrix: A Biography of Water, June 2000, p. 3)

“One day, I hope that my business brings in more money.”
“I’m gonna get down to my ideal weight one of these days.”
“Maybe next year, I’ll do something to be happier.”

These are desires, not goals. (And no, I’m not about to beat you over the head with SMART goals.) They’re lovely in their own right, but they don’t have the gas to get you where you want to be.

“I will grow my business to double its current gross revenue (a number I already know) by November 2012.”
“I will achieve my ideal weight before my 40th birthday.”
“I will choose to do one thing every day that contributes to making me happier from now through the end of March.”

While these statements are far more specific, their real power comes only once there is commitment to them. A quote often attributed to Goethe but actually by W.H. Murray states it most elegantly:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.

I’ve seen this principle at work in my clients’ lives and even in my own. Can’t seem to get my running shoes on for a while, then I register for a race: I’m out the door easily. A client wants to start a new business but hems and haws anxiously. Create an accountability to get a new client (the first) and two days later, an email greets me announcing the client has been found!

If you really want what you say you want, create a real goal with a finish line and get cracking.

1. Acknowledging and accepting that you are not capital-p/hollywood/plastic Perfect and will make and have made mistakes…and that you’re still already little-p perfect just as you are.
2. Saying “no” when you mean no and saying “yes” when you mean yes.
3. Taking action even when you are afraid and even when you aren’t sure of the outcome.
4. Admitting that you do not know and cannot control the future.
5. Letting go of what other people think of you.
6. Doing what your heart wants for you instead of what you’re “supposed” to do.
7. Loving someone, really loving them.
8. Letting yourself be loved, exactly as you are today (including by you).
9. Celebrating your successes and yourself.
10. Keeping hope.

It’s our final day! All you darers have been inspiring this week. The thing about pushing your limits and stretching your comfort is that it’s not an externally competitive sport: it doesn’t matter what’s daring or easy for someone else, only that it’s daring for you. And I’ve seen you all show up for the life that lies beyond the discomfort with beautiful courage and brilliant spirits!

So here goes:

Day Five Dare: I dare you to be imperfcet!

Today, you get to show up as imperfect, or messy, or still learning and live to tell the tale. We tell ourselves we fear failure so much and then make up that any little imperfection equals failure.

Sometimes dotting every i can serve to reinforce the idea that you’re only worthy to draw breath because you dot the i. Today, you get to stand in your worth even with an undotted i! Will the world end and come crashing down? You’ll find out.

So make a typo, arrive a few minutes later than your usually early time, toss out an idea that’s not fully formed, wear clothes that don’t match, come up short of change at the check out or skip brushing your teeth. Do (or don’t do) whatever will let you try out just being, not trying so hard and accepting that you’re fabulous even if you’re not Hollywood perfect (as opposed to human perfect, which you already are with all your imperfections).

Go to the Being Daring Facebook Wall where all the action is and post what you plan to do, and come back with how it goes!

Day Four Dare: Be outrageously generous all day long.

I’m not just talking about if someone asks for help, I mean even if someone doesn’t. If someone asks you for a quarter today, give ‘em a dollar. Today’s about giving it away, not clutching to everything we have and are as if we’re always about to run out of it.

Be generous with your money, your time, your expertise, your enthusiasm, your attention, your smile. What the heck, you can even be generous with your right of way as you drive (radical, right?).

Go to the Being Daring Facebook Wall and name three things you plan to focus on being generous with or about today. Then come back later and share how it went.

Day Three Dare:
I dare you to take the day off. (Keep reading.)

In fact, take today off if at all possible. If it really isn’t possible, then do whatever you have to do to schedule a day off by Friday.

Now here’s the juicy part: you decide what you’re going to take today off from. You can totally take the day off from work if that resonates for you. You could also choose to take the day of from:

• Looking for work
• The internet
• Worrying
• Trying to fix something that’s broken
• Striving or trying so dang hard
• TV
• Anything that makes you feel less happy or less alive

So come to the Being Daring Facebook wall and tell us what you’ll take the day off from and how you’ll do it. Then come back and tell us how it went for you.

Your tribe is waiting for you!

Day Two Dare:
I dare you to post your favorite 5 of your skills (things you *do*) and your favorite 5 of your traits (things you *be*) as your Facebook Status. PART TWO: I double-dog dare you to step into them and use them as often as you possibly can all day long!

That second part means, for example, that if one of your favorite traits is that you are creative, then when someone’s stumped at work, you dig into your creativity and see what you have to offer. Think of it as finding excuses to dive into the talents and traits that make you shine.

This is a slightly different way to celebrate Valentine’s Day: it’s a little bit of self-love and letting that love translate directly into shining who you are and your skills in your life today.

And you’re welcome to pass the dare along to your friends when you post on your wall. The more folks doing this, the merrier!

Why am I daring you do to this? Because embracing who you are and what you have to offer is a huge step toward actually offering it to this world that can certainly use more brilliance.

How are you going to do it? Tell what you think in the comments on our Facebook wall, then come back and tell us all how it went. At the end of the day, tell us how it felt to step into your day the way you did.