Fork in the Road

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

~Mark Twain

My family is not wealthy. Horses are the only nice things we have. I grew up this way, and it is ingrained into the fibers of my being that this will always be the road of my life. I am trying to change that in a way that does not involve becoming narcissistic or driven by material things; I believe in the power of growing up poor; it builds character and integrity--at least for some people.

In the past, opportunities that came with a big bill were usually just automatically written off. I have had many great experiences through friends and scholarships of various natures, but I never saved up money for some expensive experience because I never had a job to do that with. Then, last spring, I made the decision that I was going to go a Fast Track course in Pagosa Springs in the summer of 2011. I guess I know how to break a habit: dive in head first into that cold pond, no wading in slowly!

When May 31st rolled around and I had scraped and dug and gathered enough money to go, I was euphoric. It has opened up a new world for me, a world of doing things for me. I have been focused on saving to get myself to the Fast Track next year, taking these lessons with Meggie, and now, I am going to the Performance Summit next weekend (not labor day weekend). It was only through a friend offering a cheap ticket, but this fork has been in the road of my life ever since Meggie mentioned the thing and made me envision myself there. Prior to that, I had, again, written it off as impossible. Well, I thought about this, and I fretted about it. I lost sleep over it. Today, I made up my mind, bought my airline ticket and took the ticket offer from my friend.

One of my favorite sayings (I say it to myself and I came up with it by myself) is "I don't know where I am going, but I am headed there at full speed." Sometimes, folks have a plan, and plans are good. But when life is actually happening, things rarely go as planned, and plans change. All the while, life is moving and going by. . . whether or not you're actually living it. Life is like a train station--either you're watching the cars pass by on the bench or you're in the cars speeding through the country side. I want to be on the train. I want to go on adventures and push myself to greater limits. I will not regret this venture. I am going to enjoy every bit of it and I plan to record as much of my experience as possible onto this blog. I am an excellent note-taker, so it should be good.

When we come to forks in the road, the train doesn't stop, and if you don't pick, the train is going to pick on its own. That may be a good thing sometimes. If I had stayed in indecision much longer, I would have run out of time and forever lived with the results of my inaction. I don't think we always need to pick the adventurous route, per se, but it most certainly is important for your heart to be heard and, sometimes, to take the fork in the road.

Natural Horsewoman Out.