I BLAME THOM YORKE.

You know that Radiohead song, "No Alarms, No Surprises"? The first time I heard it, I was a college student with my whole future ahead of me, and the picture painted by that song chilled me to my soul. Graduating. Getting a job. Settling down in the real world and serving out a life sentence in your pretty house with your pretty garden and your dying spirit. 

Fast forward fifteen years and I've got everything I never wanted. The 9-5 job. The suburban home, complete with garden. The crossover SUV permanently loaded with two car seats (and the kids that come with them). And here's the kicker. It all makes me pretty damn happy.  No one's more surprised about that than me.    

Still....

I can't shake the feeling that if I'm not careful, that timid life will creep up on me little by little, chipping away at my existence until I become the type of person who says,"Oh, you know, same old, same old," every time someone asks me what I've been up to lately. And I'm not going to let it happen. 

So when I turned 40, I issued myself a dare. A double dog dare. I decided to take on 40 things that truly challenge me. That thrill me. That may even scare the crap out of me. Forty things that would force me past the limits of the person I'd been up until this point. The plan was to complete all 40 while I was still 40, but life got in the way and I realized it will probably continue to do so. So now, I’ve given myself the rest of my life to complete the quest. So here’s to keeping the daring dreams alive until my very last breath.

WHO I AM 

My name is Diane Levine. I'm Filipina by blood. New Yorker by birth. Jewish by marriage. Writer by choice. Lucky wife of a great guy, Charlie Levine. Proud momma of two amazing little boys, Maxon and Cooper. Associate Creative Director of the kick-ass branding and marketing agency, Think Creative. And these days I live in Orlando, Florida, which is actually way cooler than you think it is (in culture, not thermometer). 

CONTACT ME

Thoughts? Comments? Stories about how you're daring yourself beyond the limits of your own life?  I want to hear it all. Hit me up at at diane@operationgoosebumps.com or fill out the form below.