The picture is of Bettina Eistel and her horse is Fabuleax 5. If you look closely, this is a 50 year old woman from Germany who does not have any arms. Bettina doesn’t let her disability stop her, in fact she didn’t just overcome her disability, and she walloped it! She wears riding boots with cut-outs in the toes so she can have ‘hands’ (imagine how cold her toes must get … and how often they clip a branch or a fence board – ouch!). She can saddle, bridle, hose down, wrap, blanket and do just about anything else that is needed for her horse. And, she rides by steering with her legs and holding the reins in her mouth. IN HER MOUTH. Try that…Kind of makes me feel ridiculous for complaining about anything I can't do with my horses.
Her accomplishments include: 2 silver and bronze medals at the European Championships in Portugal in 2002 and 3 silver at the World Championships in Belgium in 2001, 2 silver and one bronze at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, 3 German Championships. A bronze and silver medal in the team standings at the 2008 Paralympics in Hong Kong. She also wrote a book, and hosts a TV talk show, not bad for a girl with no arms. Now that is winning against all odds. You can read more about her by Clicking Here
I share this story not to make us feel like incapable failures with our horses but to motivate us to believe that we can do anything we set our minds to. It might help us to stop looking at what we can't do and start exploring and expanding what we can do! During Christmas Break I read three very powerful books about overcoming challenges, gaining confidence and never giving up. The combination of some R&R the last month, reading Bettina's story and these books I am re-inspired to do even better this year with my horses, students, business, family, and my personal life. When I look back over the last seven years since moving to NE I am empowered by all the changes that have occurred in my life. Now I admit that there were challenges and struggles along the way and that all of the positive changes I have experienced were not accomplished without some pain and effort. I am not yet perfect and still have areas in my horsemanship and personal life which need improvement. When I am not exactly where I want to be I remind myself that neither am I where I used to be. The fact that I have not yet arrived does not intimidate me or make feel less successful; it simply spurs me on with a deeper desire and more courage to reach my potential. And I am sure that it is much greater than I have even imagined. Now I don't say that to brag, but I say it to encourage each of you that I believe in you and the things I know that you will be able to do in 2011. A teacher cannot teach effectively what they do not practice or believe themselves. Integrity is living and practicing what you preach or teach.
So what do I practice and believe? I believe that we should never give up on ourselves. I refuse to live in fear. I didn't say I would never experience it, I said I would not let it rule my life. Because fear is the greatest obstacle many of us must overcome in order to develop our potential. I have met people who are afraid of their horse or being hurt by them. However in addition to that I find many horsemen afraid of failure, change, making the wrong decision, criticism and what other people will think. So I practice keeping a right perspective on fear, where I learn to discern when to heed it's warning, when to face or confront it, and ultimately how to conquer it.
I believe that it will take some sacrifice in order to reach my goals and I am willing to pay the price. Progress or success will cost something. I believe it takes consistency in order to make significant progress or succeed at anything, and this is something I practice in many areas of my life. I know that if I am not happy with where I am at or a situation I am in right now that I will have to make an effort to change myself first, even if it is just my attitude towards the situation. I know that if I don't want to be in the same place next year at this time I will have to pay the price on this end to have the desired results on the other end. I will have to spend some of this year moving towards my goals for next year. As I move forward I am sure I will have to make some tough choices and I will come to some painful crossroads. When I reach those places I have two choices I can either run back to where I came from or press through. No matter what I want to see change (in my abilities as a horseman, my business or my personal life) I will either press past the pain of change now, or I will be exactly where I am today this time next year. However, I believe I will have the strength and courage to be consistent, make wise decisions and keep putting one foot in front of the other, because I know that if I continue pressing through without giving up I will eventually have the victory I long for.
I fully believe reaching your potential is linked to the way you handle adversity. Winston Churchill said: "Difficulties mastered are opportunities won." When we allow difficulties and challenges to frustrate, intimidate or discourage us we will never win against all odds like Bettina has. We don't all have to be alike, we don't all have to face the same giants, but if you face your own giants head-on and press past them taking one little step at a time and then another one and another one and another one, you will develop the skills and determination needed to be everything you were created to be and experience your dreams to their fullest and beyond whatever they may be. They don't have to be riding in the Olympics, they may be very small, but we should never despise small beginnings. They are just that a start; and that is where it has to begin. So we all have a new start in a couple of days, I hope that each of you will take advantage of it and that at this time next year, we can say we conquered a few giants in our lives and we have moved closer to becoming all that we can be.
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