It’s been a rough winter in the frozen south, and I for one am so ridiculously ready for spring! Can it please hurry up and get warm already?! Can we please fast forward past the next two months and miraculously find ourselves in April, all warm and perfectly shed out and fit and on the bit and jumping all the things? Oh! And while we’re wishing, can I have a million dollars, and a fully furnished horse farm with all the amenities and acreage needed? Please?
I know. Wishful thinking, right? Winter is hard. Such a simple statement, and one that we all know is true, but darn it! Winter is hard. And the irony of it all is January first. Each new year starts with such hope and promise and resolutions galore mixed in with a healthy dose of goal setting. By February our goals have shifted, and those resolutions? Well …
So far this year, I am still struggling to even set my goals. Last year started with so much fanfare and pomp, but by September, it had all come skidding to a halt. And it definitely was NOT a square one! It was disheartening and frustrating and left me with an attitude a little along the lines of “why bother?” Anyone who knows me very well will tell you that isn’t like me at all, and yet as January first came sneaking back around the bend, that’s exactly where I was.
2017 was a hard in a myriad of ways, not just in my horse world. As the calendar loomed and show schedules started to be announced for 2018, I began to wonder, “What in the heck do I want from this next year?” Even as I type those words, I have to honestly admit, I’m not sure. Well, at least not in the practical sense. Of course I’d like to win the lottery, buy the perfect farm, get a new rig, win that ever elusive blue ribbon … you know, all the usual horse person wishes. But what about setting some realistic achievable goals?
I have no idea. None whatsoever.
The past few years have been so full of such craziness and unexpected un-achievableness that I don’t even know where to start.
If wishes were horses … if goals were easily attained … if unicorns were real … if I won the lottery …
All those things. So as I sit here typing, trying to come up with an inspirational blog (for myself as much as for anyone else) here’s where I’m at. Just do (no, not the Nike slogan) wait for it … something. Just do something. Anything. Take a baby step, even the smallest of baby steps. At least you’re moving, at least you’re heading in a direction, at least you have done … something!
I could fill this blog with cliches. They are probably all true. They could be true. The problem is getting started. It’s so much easier to just sit and ponder, make lists, hope it works out. It’s the getting going that’s so hard. (Especially when it’s 10 degress outside and you live in the south!) Here are two pieces of great advice that I am hanging my skull cap on as I set my goals.
Number one: If you make a bad decision or even a decision that just doesn’t line up the way you thought it would, simply make another decision that changes the direction of the bad decision. Almost nothing is set in stone. If you sign up for your first event and you feel overwhelmed and unready, how about just dropping down a level? You are still headed toward a goal, but perhaps it’s a little easier to get to at a lower level. You’ll build confidence instead of fear.
Number two: It really is all about baby steps. Sometimes it starts with simply brushing your teeth. By that I mean, you don’t just hop right out of bed and head to work. You get ready first! So, you can’t just pull your fat, furball (cough, cough, my horse) out of the pasture and expect to go galloping over prelim fences into the sunset. How about setting up a fitness schedule for him to gradually get him and you back into slick three day eventer shape? Maybe you start with just a 30 minute hack. I don’t know! Whatever works for you, but you’re doing SOMETHING!
OK, so back to me. This blog has taken my several days to finish because it really has gotten me thinking. Life is ever shifting, ever changing. Stuff is going to happen, but it’s a law of physics that a object in motion stays in motion. I want to stay in motion, no matter what the direction. So, I have FINALLY set some goals, a couple might be a tad bit unrealistic (a girl can dream, right?!) but most of them are definitely doable; attaining them will simply require some hard work and determination. For now, I am taking my own advice and baby stepping to the beat of my dreams and so far, I have not had to rethink a bad decision. (Girl continues to dream.)
Good luck! Happy New Year!
Go eventing!
