https://vimeo.com/259686728?ref=fb-share (You'll have to cut and paste this into your browser page.)
This is EXACTLY why I get so frustrated and angry with myself sometimes.
He didn't sit on a pity pot. He didn't wait for someone to fix it for him. He looked around at what he had, and made it work FOR him. When the first attempt wasn't so great, he tried again later (even though it was a few years.) Then he made a second one and improved upon it with another.
My point here is this:
NEVER tell someone that their dream is foolish, unrealistic or not possible. Please don't tell them there is only one way it SHOULD be done. Never accept this if you hear it. Concentrate on what you CAN do. Focus on that dream!! Even if you only take one tiny step at a time, you're moving FORWARD. Make decisions that take you toward that dream. Be inventive and look around you. What do you have in your hands TODAY that you can utilize in reaching your dream? Try it!! Even if it doesn't give the desired results. Because...guess what?! You haven't stagnated. You haven't moved backward. You've learned something that will help you continue onward to your dream.
The biggest trap you can fall into is this (trust me on this, I speak from personal experience):
You can't do THAT unless you have THIS.
It's a big fat trap from people who are afraid to think, step outside of, or live outside the box. Don't let that define you OR your dreams.
The very best, and for me, most uplifting thing about being an American, is OPPORTUNITY. There are too many examples of people who've made their lives a success by thinking that way (outside the box I mean.) Some of them had teachers and attorneys for parents, dropped out of college, and pursued their dreams to colossal success. Others started life well off, yet had many MANY failures while moving forward into a life that now wields tremendous political power. Others were born with physical bodies that weren't "average", yet that held within them minds who've given us unsurpassable ideas.
So.........look for your dream. Use what you have at hand and improve upon it as you go.
My dream has always been to be an animal trainer or veterinarian. I'm soon to be 54. Veterinarian isn't financially feasible right now. Having two autoimmune diseases is presenting more challenges. However, I'm tired of trying to have my dream by doing it the way it SHOULD be done. I'm going to use my "Legos" and go for it!!
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I posted this on facebook today. I know some folks don't do facebook (I wish I didn't either, in all honesty.) That's why I copied it over here. One of the reasons that I wrote this is because of what appears to be a rather snobbish attitude some experienced horse folks present to people just getting into the horse world. Comments like "you need to own your own property before you have horses." Or "I wouldn't let a horse I sell leave the property if someone came to pick it up in a single axle trailer. I'd give them their money back." Or "You can only use ____________ (fill in the blank) type of fencing safely." I think y'all get my drift. I believe too many successful and moderately successful people present this face. Perhaps it's intentional, perhaps not. Many times though, they've forgotten how they started in horses. With an old nag that everyone thought should go to the knackers, but was the most beautiful horse in the world to them. How they cobbled together lean-to sheds and fencing with pallets, bits and pieces of wire fencing, and dibs and dabs of whatever was available. How they used ragtag old household blankets as horse blankets. Feed buckets made from leftover whatever. Rode bareback with baling twine bridles. It goes on, and on and on.......
I've always done my best to encourage newcomers to use what they have....and use it as safely as they can. What is available and works for one person, may not for another. One way or another, they'll learn to be better horse people for it. These days, we need all the newcomers we can get. I think the AQHA has set an example many registries could learn some things from. By calling themselves Americas Horse and having a HUGE set of resources readily and freely available, they've managed to stay strong--even grow--when the rest of our registries are struggling. By catering to the backyard horseman, no matter how humble, they're successful. As horse people, I feel we can all do the same. Many big time trainers and breeders went to their early shows in modest vehicles. Some re-purposed buses. Some put slat sides on a pick-up, hauled in to the shows, WON and now have very successful breeding and/or training operations.
Offer encouragement wherever we can. One day, that old nag with a baling twine bridle might be the mount that started the career of someone that everyone is now familiar with.
