… Be Daring And Bold - Kind Of

I will be the first to admit that I have been somewhat of a chicken in the past. I was the only kid in grade school who wouldn’t go in the sixth-graders’ haunted house at Halloween because I was too scared. I carried a flashlight with me until just last year in case the power went out … my greatest fear is the dark. I was also the last one on my block to see “Scream.” Yes, I am pathetic. The thought of someone’s hands clasping around my neck will bring me to tears, and the thought of it happening in the dark - certain death.

But no longer will I be known as the chicken, the one who refuses to tell ghost stories around the fire or sneak into a cemetery. I publicly resolve, in the new year, to shake my fears. I will become daring, courageous, bold. I will always be the first to jump into a new circumstance. I will leave my Teddy at home when I go on a trip, and I will go to the haunted house in Post Falls this year.

Of course, there are obvious exceptions to my new year’s resolution. If something is going to cause me bodily harm, it is out.

Therefore, the haunted house is out, because Jason or Freddy or Jack Nicholson will jump out and their chainsaw that everyone says is fake will be real. That certainly could cause bodily harm.

The big rides at the fair and carnival are out, too. The chances of them breaking while I am on them are about as good as getting hit by a bolt of lightning, but there is still that chance. That, I am sure, is bodily harm.

I suppose I could rent “The Shining” - that seems harmless. Unless I got into a car accident while driving to the video store. Or what if I went to pick up the flick and tripped over a bump in the carpet. Definitely bodily harm there.

Come to think of it, nothing is safe anymore.

Maybe you think I’m a coward, a wimp, a chicken. I don’t care. You go out and take those chances, take those risks. I take back my resolution.

This New Year’s I am going to spend the evening watching Dick Clark with good ol’ familiar Teddy.