A Lesson

kimrhodes4:

I sat on the back of the horse. “Now jump it at a canter,” my trainer said.

I froze and started to cry. I was overcome with mourning because I knew my riding was over. I was done. I couldn’t do what was asked of me because my fear had me frozen.

Then I did it. And did it again. My trainer laughed at the crinkles in my nose because I was smiling so hard.

Fear is good. It keeps me from stepping in front of trucks and mouthing off to big, angry crackheads. But it also stops me from doing things I WANT to do, because I’m scared it will hurt.

Here’s the lesson: pain is inevitable. This is life. It will hurt. But I have a choice. I can experience pain in the pursuit of something that I want or I can experience pain by never going after it.

And sometimes it doesn’t hurt at all. Sometimes the joy bubbles up so hard, you turn into a bunny. Jus’ sayin’.