The women in the office all dared each other to do the city's famous annual naked bike ride. Peer pressure, and blue paint, helped steady their resolve.
They picked a theme: Little Mermaid, Under the Sea. They were giddy, but terrified when they put on the body paint in the morning, but after the ride, they were truly jubilant. Although they would normally consider themselves self-confident, strong, and adventurous women, getting naked and riding through their town in nothing but blue paint and tennis shoes was pushing all of their personal comfort zones.
When it was all done, they celebrated their victory together, not the accomplishment of the ride, but of riding past their inhibitions, their fears, and the inner voice that said, "stay in the comfortable and familiar, be safe, be good, do what you're told, don't break rules." For some, their were deeper voices, darker ones that had told them for years: "you're not pretty enough, you're body is bad, you should be ashamed, cover yourself." Being naked was a physical act, but the reward was an emotion: joy, and pride, and strength. On that day, all the negative inner-voices were silenced, replaced with a single affirmation: we did it.
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