In the film Battle of the Sexes, the rivalry between real life 1970s tennis stars Billie Jean King and Bobbie Riggs is accentuated, and Sara Bareiilles’ If I Dare tune is the movie’s theme song. One of the lines in the Dare song is “I am holding out for more than what I have now.” It is inspiring, particularly in context, as Billie Jean played by Emma Stone gave it her all to win the infamous match. And don’t we all do that? We strive, hold out for more, sacrifice the now for the later, but we are told not to do that.
The current happiness wisdom is to choose what you have, live your life now, be in the moment and if you want something that you can only dream of, it will make you unhappy. It is true that if you spend your moments dreaming of what you perceive as impossible, and compare it to your current life, you will feel unfulfilled. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting something you can’t have.
But the song starts by saying that if she dares to think about something, she dares it to be true and the line in the last part of the verse is “Then I dare to believe I’ll have it in the end.” The key here is belief. Yes, if you long for something but don’t believe you’ll ever have it, you never will. And the song suggests that you need a little courage as you dare to believe, not blindly believe without taking any action.
Putting yourself out there, and knowing that you might fail, is the only thing that will bring you glory. If it wasn’t risky, you would not feel accomplished. It is only through daring to believe in what you want and holding out for more, and having goals and dreams and desires, that make life exciting. So dare to be different. Want more than you have. Go out there and make things happen!
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