Where do our opportunities take us? Why do we pursue some opportunities, but dismiss others? What type of opportunities appeal us? When I was a child there were a couple quotes I kept taped to my dresser. One of them said, 'Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be', Abraham Lincoln. The other one said 'Love all, Trust a few, and do wrong to no one', William Shakespeare. Both written by historical men, whose opportunities taken have had an impact on many. I'm wanting to focus on the first one mentioned, 'Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be'. It has been this quote, written on a simple piece of paper, which occasionally helped me pick up my drooping chin, kick up my heels, and decide this day I'm gonna choose 'happy'. Happy is an opportunity to choose a better outcome for current situations. By choosing happy I alter how I respond to what comes into my life. By choosing happy I am rewriting my future. The choice of happy isn't always the road I take, but the opportunity to choose is always there.
The outcome of any situation has always been better when I have taken the opportunity, and chose happy. Take for example a horse I have. His name is Bronco Billy. He has been, and still is, an exceptional cutting (www.nchacutting.com) horse. He has all the traits to make a great cutting horse. He's smart, cowy, athletic, and quirky. Probably every horse that is worth anything has their own quirks. Billy has his quirks, that for any other rider, would make them spitting mad. Billy has the talent of stopping so hard, and sudden, he can bury his butt in the ground in a split second. Myself or anyone else can be riding Billy, and if he gets ready to stop he gives no clues about it. He stops so hard, and so abruptly, it is totally unexpected. It can cause any rider to almost go over his head. If you've ever seen the movie Dances with Wolves, and you saw the scene where the indians try to steal Captain John Dunbar's horse. They are quickly running away with the horse when the he throws on his brakes, and the rider is pulled to the ground by the sudden stopping of the horse. Well, Billy's stopping ability has a similar effect to any rider. When he stops, if the rider is not ready, it will almost throw the rider over his head. I've had Billy for 13 years, and while his stopping ability turns heads in the arena, it can also be frustrating.
Billy has shown off his stopping abilities in the following ways:
-Riding in a pen full of horses and riders I've had a girl riding closely behind me while we loped around in circles. Billy could feel her presence, and I could feel his agitation of her riding so close. In a split second he put on his brakes, and stopped suddenly. The girl had no place to go, but to run into his rear end. There was nothing to do, but apologize over and over. Billy felt her presence, and didn't like it. From that day forward, if anyone tried to ride too close behind us I made a point to ride over to the side and pull him to a quiet stop.
-My children have ridden Billy on occasion. It never failed when they got going good, he would plant his butt in the ground in a sudden stop. Abruptly stopping they were surprised, and a little frustrated. Something about the feeling of being slung around by a large horse is kind of unsettling.
-My brother, who is a very accomplished and rugged cowboy, has ridden Billy. Loping around the round pen Billy, without hesitation, planted his rear end and almost threw my brother out of the saddle. Kicking him back into a lope, my brother was able to go a little further before Billy did the same thing. For me, it was humorous seeing my brothers surprised expression when he came to a jolting stop.
-Being a show horse, it is important that a good cutting horse can stop quickly to control the cow. Billy's athleticism, and stopping ability, far exceeded anything I'd ever ridden before. His quick stops enabled him to stop and turn a cow with ease. He was a superior horse to have residency in central Arkansas. Twice he qualified to go to the World Finals in Amarillo, TX. He had more potential than my ability could handle. He wasn't given an opportunity to fully use all his talent, because he belonged to an amateur rider. He gave his whole heart in the arena. What more could you ask for?
-When I first started riding Billy, and was warming him up at a show, he kept planting his rear end in the dirt. It caught me by surprise. He kept doing it over and over and over again. I was wearing my legs out trying to keep him going. Being a new-by on this horse I didn't know what to think, so I just kinda smiled and went on. After a while of loping and stopping, loping and stopping, I rode up to the edge of the show pen. Billy's trainer was sitting on the other side of the fence. He looked at me with a big grin on his face and said 'He sure does like to stop'. I'm sure it was humorous to him watching as I tried to keep Billy going.
My experience with Billy showed me something. You know what I was saying about choosing the opportunity to be happy? Riding Billy was a challenge. His quirky, unexpected, athletic, frustrating stops, could have been a problem. His quirkiness was such an unexpected thing. There were times I really wanted to lose my cool, but I chose happy. No matter how bad my day was going, Billy's stops brought a smile to my face. I could have let it upset me. I could have let it make me mad. I could have let my Martin temper get the better of me. I could have spurred him more, and tried to break him of the habit. I could have sold him, and considered his quirky stops a flaw. All the things I could have done.......
All the things I could have done, I am convinced, would have altered the success we had in the arena. Looking back in hindsight, had I chosen one of the other actions, I believe it would have hurt our relationship. As it was, I found myself with a lighthearted chuckle, or a full blown outright loud belly laugh each time he caught me by surprise, and planted himself in the dirt. I've heard it said, and I believe, you have to work 'with' a horse not against it. I believe Billy would not have worked so hard for me, if I had tried to force my will upon him and tried to make him stop his stopping. I'm glad I accepted him as he was. It would have been a missed opportunity not to enjoy this exceptional animal with all his quirkiness. Do you, as I have, sometimes try to alter someone's quirkiness. Perhaps we try to change them into what people around us would consider more acceptable. If we instead would accept them for all their frustrating, repetitive, unexpected, talented habits, we would have the opportunity see them rise to the exceptional person God meant them to be. God is not an amateur. He is God. He can take people to their full potential. Giving our whole heart to God in the arena of life, He can use our quirky talents to achieve great things we cannot imagine.
Take the opportunity to choose happy. People around you will appreciate being accepted for their quirky ways.
Showing Billy was exhilarating joy.
Cutting at the Summer Spectacular in 2006
A birds eye view of Billy at a cutting show
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