September 15, 2021 / Latest Thoughts

Growth And Comfort Can’t Ride The Same Horse

While I grew up riding horses, I was never a particularly stylish equestrian. More like a pretty rough n’ ready one… gutsy enough to hold on to my wild Brumby we won in a raffle for 20 cents (I kid you not!).

I fell off a few times too. Most often because I’d been bucked off!

All those falls (and near misses) taught me a valuable lesson I was only able to articulate later in life. It’s this:

Growth and comfort cannot ride the same horse.

The last time I rode a horse in Australia, I landed a very flighty horse who promptly bucked me off. I got back on but I must admit, it shook me up a bit.

So when I got back in the saddle in Colorado last week, I was a little apprehensive about the prospect of getting another crazy horse who might throw me off again. Fortunately, I got a very well-trained one (thank you to the fine folks at SageRanch) and had an awesome ride.

The lesson:

If you never risk doing something uncomfortable, you not only deprive yourself of what is possible but you miss out on life’s richest experiences.

Like horseback riding in the High Rockies of Colorado. And like pretty much all the best things I’ve ever done.

So let me ask you… where do you need to embrace discomfort?

What you want most is riding on it.

Go on.

Take the chance.

Train the brave.

You’ve got this!