34. Well, I do happen to come from Nevada.

I love a good wager, bet, or dare made with a friend.

Now, I'm not one to bet on sporting events. Or dogfights. (Or even catfights, for that matter.)* I'm talking about bets or dares that have purpose and meaning behind them; ones made between friends with the intended goal of pushing one another, challenging each to improve in some aspect of life.

Maybe we Americans should replace our tired old New Year's Resolution with a New Year's Challenge. Or New Year's Wager. I--like most people, I'm sure--am terrible at keeping resolutions. I rarely break a 30% completion rate. But that might well change if I have someone challenging me and holding me accountable for my performance (often with a monetary reward/punishment as added motivation).

As mentioned before, Austin and I made up one such wager on New Year's Eve, and promptly invited our friend Jonathan to join us in the yearlong bet (he gladly agreed). It's a bit preposterous, I suppose, but it'll be a good motivator for the three of us. Without going into any of the salacious details, I will say that $50 is potentially on the line each month for the three of us, and if that doesn't motivate me to improve in a particular area of life (told you, I'm not revealing it), I don't know what will.

Plus, a ridiculous bet is a LOT of fun, both to plan out and to carry out. Austin and I probably laughed our heads off for a good hour--and several more since--as we drafted up and discussed elements/rules to include in our Bet of 2009. And I can imagine we (along with Jonathan) will have many more hours of enjoyable--if not playfully heated--discussion throughout the year.

Maybe come the end of the year, I'll let you know what the bet is. If you're lucky, that is.


* I have been known, however, to bet on the occasional card game and presidential election once in a while.