New Year's Resolutions

Let's Ride!

One of the biggest challenges for adult recreational riders and adult amateur competitors is finding the time and discipline to ride as much as they would like. If life seems to be getting in the way of your riding time, read on to explore why we don't ride.

Do you hear yourself saying, "I just don't have enough time?" The first thing I would like to recommend is that you get and read a copy of First Things First by Stephen R. Covey. Stephen Covey does away with traditional time management techniques which are based on the paradigm that you can do more if you just organize and become more efficient at using your time. He makes us distinguish between the urgent and important things that we must do and shows us the way to a higher quality of life. The important things we have to do in life are always the ones that we can procrastinate on.

If you are reading this article, most likely riding is important to you. To those who don't know what it is like to have been bitten by the horse bug, they will never understand how important it is. Begin this year by embracing the fact that you need to ride, and more importantly, you deserve to ride. We are so caught up in other's needs and the stigma of constantly being productive (doing the urgent things) many of us feel guilty about the time we spend with our horses. Realize that when you spend time with your horse you are exercising your body, freeing your mind from stress, lowering your blood pressure, being true to your inner self and achieving a wellness that will allow you to be better at everything else you do.

I would like to share a story that was circulating in emails that dealt with this issue. It went something like this: A business professor brought a large jar full of rocks into his class. He asked the class to tell him if the jar was full. The unanimous answer was yes. "Really?" he asked. He took a jar of gravel and poured it in the jar. The small pieces settled down between the larger rocks. Again he asked if the jar was full. The wary students now replied, "Probably not," and they were right. The professor proceeded to fill the jar with sand that settled down between the smaller rocks. Lastly, the professor added water which soaked down through the rocks and sand. Then he asked the class how his demonstration related to time management. One student eagerly responded, "You can always add more, even when you think your schedule is full." "No, replied the professor. The point is if you don't put the big (i.e. important) things in first, they will never fit.

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