challenge

play 

verb  chal·lenge  \ˈcha-lənj\

6:  to arouse or stimulate especially by presenting with difficulties she wants a job that will challenge her

Today marks the beginning of a new month, and, it would seem, a new challenge. I was eating lunch earlier today with one of my best friends. She's been a support system, a cheering section, a wonderful example and a true blessing in my life. And, like best friends should do, she challenged me.

Everyone faces challenges. It's just a fact of life. What that looks like to each of us though, is very different. Challenge can look a lot like trying to get out of bed and tie your shoe laces when your body is riddled with arthritis after a long life of labour. Challenge can be your youngest child going to school and standing up to a high school bully that torments them. It can be having the humility to apologize, and ask for forgiveness, when you have wronged someone. It can be the very act of forgiveness that is a challenge.

In my life, challenge looks a lot like Pegasus. Only I didn't get a set of wings and a mythical creature to assist me. What I have looks a whole lot like hard work. I spend my days training horses to jump, to compete, or, on the really bad days, attempting to.

I can't say that I remember developing a passion for horses. It's always been innately in me, a part of me, a burning desire, a dream. A challenge. Merriam - Webster lists several definitions of the word challenge. The one that struck me was the sixth definition: "to arouse or stimulate especially by presenting with difficulties". The example they give is: "she wants a job that will challenge her".

That is the true definition of challenge in my life. For those of you that aren't experienced with horses, let me explain a little. Horses are flight animals. Their instinct, when experiencing what they perceive as danger, is to run. If they are unable to escape, or to run, they will fight. We call this their flight or fight instinct. Now imagine you're 5'4" and trying to teach a 1200 lb. animal that running, or fighting for that matter, is not a good life choice. That's what I do every day. And then I ask them to jump over things that are not natural and that they will perceive as danger. My life may have challenges, but it's certainly not boring.

I have to laugh. When Kim told me I should start a blog, I flat out said that I didn't want to. Yet, here I am four hours later on my laptop writing this. I'm currently sitting in Kal Tire waiting for my car to get it's winter tires swapped (finally) and I have my dog Honey sitting next to me in the waiting room. If you ever need a conversation starter, just call me and borrow her for a day. She can get anyone to come up and start a conversation, as was the case half an hour ago. This young man David comes over to ask if he can pet her, and, when I give him permission, he immediately sits down to pet her and starts chatting with me. He asks what I do for a living, so I explain that I train horses, to which he replies, "That must be challenging." I had to laugh and then explain that I was literally sitting on my laptop writing my very first blog that I titled "Challenge". 

You can call it irony, coincidence, etc., but I'm certain God has a sense of humour.  Confirmation can come in many different ways, and today, mine was an 18 year old named David. So here I am, in Kal Tire, with a little blonde dog passed out next to me, writing my first blog. It seems that today is a beginning after all, and not just because it's May 1st.