My wife Lisa and I were spending a weekend on Block Island. For those not familiar with Block Island, it is a quaint little piece of land off the coast of Rhode Island. It is in fact so small that we had seen just about everything we had wanted to see, the first day we were there. So, looking for something to do on the second day I decided that it would be fun to go horseback riding.
Lisa was an experienced rider. My riding resume consisted of being led around a circle on a pony named Lollipop for approximately 12 minutes, when I was 7 years old. With that under my belt I was confident that I was ready and so I arranged a 2-hour beach ride.
We arrived at the ranch around noon. Two horses were already saddled and waiting for us when we arrived. Lisa was shown hers. After looking me over the owner decided to make a change to my ride. Apparently, upon seeing how muscular and tall I was, it was determined that I deserved a bigger horse. (Stop laughing; I actually am pretty tall) He instructed the ranch hands to go back into the barn and saddle “KING” for me.
As they brought King out for me, the little voice inside my head began to question my equestrian abilities. King was the largest horse at the stable. The last time I had seen a horse that huge was during a Super Bowl halftime commercial pulling a Budweiser cart. Ignoring the little voice, I put one foot in the stirrup and mounted King. Over the next two hours I learned a lot about riding and more importantly I learned several very important lessons about life and getting things done.
Spencer, our guide, led Lisa and I along the driveway and out to the road that eventually led to beach. For the first 10 minutes or so, the pace was basically kept to a walk. Partly because we were on the road, and partly, I’m sure, because Spencer wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to fall off. After 10 minutes of this we had covered only a couple hundred yards and I learned my first lesson of the day.
Lesson # 1: Safety is over rated and going slow sucks
Sure you may be slow and comfortable, but you don’t really get anywhere and it’s really boring. What are you waiting for? In life, going slow and avoiding risk may keep you safe, but it will also keep you almost exactly where you started.
Thankfully, after 10 minutes of this, Spencer’s confidence in us (and by us, I mean me) increased, and he invited us to pick up the pace and we increased speed to a trot.
Trotting, in case you didn’t know, is the equivalent of a slow jog for a horse. It’s sort of a middle pace. Not to fast, not too slow. I was really looking forward to doing this. I was looking forward it right up to the moment we actually “started” to do it.
You see, along with the increased speed comes a VERY large amount of quick up and down movement. Since I was on top of the horse, as we trotted, “I” also experienced an up and down motion. Unfortunately, my “downs” more often than not, coincided with King’s “ups” resulting in a painful union of man and beast. Lets just say that I was bouncing up and down more then Dolly Parton running the New York City Marathon.
After a few minutes of this, Spencer turned to look back at us. Apparently my wife’s hysterical laughter at seeing my predicament had drawn his attention. I couldn’t be sure, but I think he was barely containing his own laughter as he slowed the horses back down to walk. At that moment I learned the second lesson of the day.
Lesson #2: Mediocrity can be a pain in the ass
Trotting didn’t cover that much more ground than walking had. On top of that it was bumpier and much more painful than going slow. When you don’t fully commit to going for what you want, you are going to have a lot of ups and downs and in the end still not get very far along the path to your goals.
We reached the beach a short while later and continued alternating between walking and trotting for anther 10 minutes or so. Then Spencer turned back to us and asked if we wanted to run. And by that he meant gallop. My inside voice wasn’t too sure about this but I heard myself say OH YEAH!!!!! And off we went.
It was amazing!
At full speed, King stopped moving up and down so much and shot forward like a smooth bullet. I leaned forward in the saddle and for the next minute or so King and I became one. A synchronous, distance-eating, speed machine. At one point, the wind in my face blew the hat right off my head. King and I covered over half a mile in about 45 seconds. It was exciting, scary, exhilarating, rewarding, fun and a real confidence builder. That’s when I learned the third Lesson of the day.
Lesson 3: Go For it!
Commit to your growth. Commit to moving forward. Don’t let the little voice inside your head (The one that tells you “can’t”), stop you from doing the things that can take you where you want to go. You will probably be pleasantly surprised that the fastest path to success is often the smoothest one as well. Sure, you may lose a hat along the way, but you can always go back and get it after you’ve reached the finish line.
Your dreams are waiting for you. Do yourself a favor, get on your horse, grab the reigns of your life and…GIDDY UP!!!!
