1 week into the Challenge and all hell breaks loose. It’s like clockwork, every year.
I am not making light of this at all. We are in the first week of the Challenge, and Challengers begin posting their disappointment to the group, commiserating over lame horses, sudden deaths of family members, tragic freak accidents involving dogs or relatives, and even personal injury. There are 1775 of us, you wouldn’t expect THAT much bad luck for a small group. But there it is and it’s something I’ve noticed every year. I’m not being superstitious, just saying it’s raised an eyebrow.
Also, Jeff just broke his leg. Surgery next week.
Quantum Entanglement
I have to wonder if it isn’t somehow triggered by us when we set our intentions. It truly seems as though the fates are conspiring against those who commit their minds to a goal. It’s why, when people mention “Murphy’s Law”, we all know exactly what they mean. We’ve lived it.
We make a choice to ignore the obstacles our procrastination has invented in the past: dirty dishes, a twinge in one’s knee, a single cloud that might herald rain on an otherwise blue-sky day. No sooner do we lock horns with our avoidance habit and we are met with real impediments. Or, as all the kids say, “shit gets real.”
It’s called a Challenge, not a cure-all
I believe two things about challenges in general: 1. There are greater forces at work for good and for evil, and 2. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever quit.
It’s strange. On the one hand, we experience legitimate reasons to quit the Challenge, or at least to accept falling short of the goal. On the other, we can’t accept those reasons and instead blame ourselves for our failure to complete the Challenge. We are silently just a little bipolar when it comes to our achievements (or lack thereof). Or is that just me?
But God, the disappointment and sense of failure. The credibility we lose with ourselves that shakes our confidence in other areas of our lives. We question whether we can handle real adversity, real challenges, or (heaven forbid) if we’ll just forever procrastinate and live in this constant state of disappointment and mediocrity. We second guess ourselves the next time an opportunity comes along.
You see it all the time with everything from weight loss to quitting smoking. The bedraggled Challenger started a weight-loss program, got a month into it, and “shit got real”. Boom, off the wagon.
WHY does shit get real???
I think it’s because there are greater forces at work for good and evil and success at anything is less about talent and luck and a lot more about grit. We just have to be tougher than our tough times. The ol’ “never quit” adage.
Today I started training for my CDL as a way to generate some extra income. I think getting some work as a substitute school bus driver on the side could help with my winter-time dry spell. One step forward, two steps back. It’s a timely change for me, given Jeff will be unable to work for at least 2 months. (I’m screaming in my head right now.)
Of COURSE the training interferes with my original riding plan for this week and next. Of COURSE I got called in for training AND Jeff’s injury happened immediately after I made a proclamation that I’d be devoting a lot MORE time to riding. But I think the reason the quote is “never ever, ever, ever quit” is because we have to make it a repetitive habit to say, “I’m still going.” Not just the first time we are met with adversity, but every time. Because it’s going to happen a lot.
Over and over.
Like, “there’s-not-enough-wine-on-the-planet-to-deal-with-this” level of frequency.
Fortunately, there are more Horsemanship Challenges on the horizon, so we’ll have lots of opportunities to NOT quit. I’m not quitting this one, either. I just won’t be getting the riding in this week that I’d wanted to get done.
You’re maybe thinking, “so you don’t get to ride as much this week, what’s the big deal? You can ride all the time anyway.” This is the time of year when I get to really work on my horsemanship and my horses and I have some goals. 1.) graduate my two main horses (Wrigley and Axel) into hackamores, and 2.) start jumping Axel. If I don’t get after it in the next couple of months, I’ll be hard-pressed to accomplish my goals this year.
Maybe our “normal state” of procrastination or whatever this is, is actually risk avoidance and when we accept a challenge, we are suddenly more aware of and susceptible to risks and fears at a level we’ve worked hard to nullify.
Like, if you’re that guy who never wears a helmet riding horses. There are risks you just won’t take, BECAUSE you aren’t wearing a helmet. There’s a certain level of adrenaline coursing through your veins on any ride that is JUST RIGHT and you don’t want any more nor any less. That’s your homeostasis. But if someone put a helmet on you, you might (or, as evidence suggests, you WOULD) take more risks. You might start jumping logs, or galloping faster or whatever. Risk homeostasis is a controversial theory but I think it might be why we are who we are, with all of our habits, our troubles, and our difficulty with challenges.
Or, you know, maybe it’s as simple as “Man plans, God laughs.”
Jeff and I talked about it last night and just said, “you know, you just gotta keep going. You can’t stop time.” Fortunately, time is what gets us on the other side of these obstacles.
Onward.
