11/08/2021
All it takes is one horse.
Every rider, at some stage, reaches the point where they think ‘can I really keep doing this?’. The point where you start to picture what life would be like without the disappointment, stress, worry and heartbreak. You sit and reflect on years of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, as well as financial investments or sacrifices and think ‘is it really worth it?’.
But it’s at this point that you might just be lucky enough to meet a special horse...that one horse that changes the way you see everything. They won’t necessarily be the horse you wanted, they won’t tick every box on your “dream horse” list and they will probably be the horse that prompts raised eyebrows from your friends when you try and justify why this seemingly “unsuitable” animal is a good thing and how they have actually saved you from the lifetime of regret you’d have to live with if you’d decided to hang up your hat for good.
These horses might stick around forever, they might only stay a while, but you can be sure they’ll be in your life until their work is done. You’ll look back on that time that you almost gave up and only ever remember that horse, the horse that made you realise you need the dark to see how beautiful the stars are, the horse that reminded you that without a little rain, the tallest, strongest flowers wouldn’t be able to grow, the horse that couldn’t take away how much life hurts sometimes, but would always give you a mane to cry into and a reason to smile.
These horses may take you down a completely different road or may keep you firmly on the path you’ve been travelling. The important part is you let them decide. They come into your life for a reason, whether it’s to realign your focus or shift it completely. You have to trust that these horses will take you where you need to be and just enjoy the ride.
The path is never straight or smooth when it comes to horses, and no sane person would think any less of you for walking away from something that carries the potential to make you feel so deflated, disappointed and heartbroken after investing so much into it, and yet the majority of us always seem to, somehow, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get back in the saddle. Why?
Because all is takes is that one horse.