Just Be a Race Horse!

I told my husband the other day, “Sometimes I wish I was a man. You guys have it so easy! Nothing bothers you. You don’t care who’s doing what, what someone said, what they wore, who they are with, what they have done or what they have.”

He looked at me with this crooked smile, we call it the Elvis lip, and he said, “No you don’t want to be a man: you should want to be a race horse!”

I turned into one of those dramatic cartoon characters. My jaw dropped open wide enough to fit a fighter jet inside, while my eyes bulged out of my head like a man’s does when they see a foxy lady. That doesn’t even make sense. What planet are you on? Pay attention! A race horse? What?

Let me rewind a bit…

Austin had spent the last two years studying for a grueling Captain’s test for the City of Phoenix Fire Department. During those two years he worked several side jobs and one of them was at Turf Paradise, a local horse track. While at the horse track he rode in a medic truck behind the horses and the jockeys for hours as they raced. He spent many hours watching these incredibly strong, bold, well-trained animals compete.

Now, back to the whole, I should want to be a race horse comment…

You see I had just spent the last 20 minutes talking, talking, talking, about all of my shortcomings. How I don’t measure up, how I don’t look like so-and-so, and how I didn’t have homemade ‘national donut day’ treats and little Pinterest bags personalized for every student in my child’s class. How so-and-so goes on these amazing vacations and we can’t even get to the water park 10 minutes from our house. It was 20 minutes about all of these silly, irrelevant comparisons against people who are not even trying to compete with me in these areas.

Okay fast-forward to my jaw on the counter. If you know my husband at all you know he is calm and collected. I know what you are thinking, “How in the world did he get stuck with this crazy, tightly wound woman?” Well, according to Paula Abdul: opposites attract, duh! Anyways, in his cool and calm voice he told me to be a race horse.

He then said, “Babe if I learned anything from sitting in that medic truck race after race, year after year behind the horses and their jockeys, it’s that when you keep your eyes on the prize and not your neighbor, you will be more efficient and win! One glare left or right and the horse trips, ejects its rider, breaks an ankle or neck and they are done. Game over. The horse doesn’t even care or know if it has won that race or any race prior. It doesn’t care about the wreath of flowers or the ribbon around its neck, it just wants to run and finish and not be sent to the glue factory. So put your blinders on, focus on you and your goals and run like a race horse. Run to finish and win YOUR race. Do not be distracted by other people and their race, it is not yours to run.”

WOW.

MIND.

BLOWN.

Looking back on this moment, I’m still in awe. Such a simple thought would spare me from comparing myself to others. In the future, I choose to be a race horse and keep my eye on my prize!

In Your Corner,
Krista