What inspires you? What drives you to try harder, to work longer, to be better and to never, ever give up?
Greatness is not born in ease and comfort. You will not become the best that you will be if you are not constantly pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. I hate being uncomfortable. I really do, physically or emotionally. But I learned early on in life that when I’m uncomfortable is when I’m generally growing and learning the most.
Times when I have been the most frustrated with myself and my inept handling of a situation is when I have walked away smarter. Whether it was trying to pair up momma cows and babies or trying to learn how to “talk about my feelings” with my boyfriend, I have come away from those situations with a lot more knowledge than when I went in. Including the knowledge that I am really NOT good about talking about my feelings, but I’m working on it.
Don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable! You will learn, you will grow and you will change. Do you get nervous about heading in the branding trap? Yes, you will probably rope an already worked calf and maybe even neck a cow. Guess what? Everyone has done it and the more you head the better you will get about handling your cattle. Do you really want to learn a trade (silversmithing, saddle making, braiding, painting, etc.) but are afraid that you won’t be good at it? Don’t be! What you do in the beginning will not be as pretty as it will be after you’ve been doing it for 6 months, and that will be no where near as beautiful as it will be after honing your craft for 10 years.
Don’t be afraid to fail! I’m terrible about not wanting to do the wrong thing and letting people down. My fear of failure is probably the one thing that can hold me back from achieving greatness. And I don’t want to sit on the sidelines, dreaming about how great I could be. Getting dirty and messing up and falling down and crying a little bit are all the things that are going to make you that person you can be. Go get ‘em tiger.
xo xo Liz
The best wisdom my mom gave me growing up was that when you feel most uncomfortable is when you are growing and learning. She told me this my first summer working for Annie Reynolds in ID.
ReplyDeleteMan I was nervous and scared of messing up, but I ended up learning a ton. My worst fear was to let Annie or my dad down or dissapoint them in some way.
I struggle with fear of failure, and I know it has held me back. No matter how I perform I am always surprised when the people I am scared to fail in front of at a branding or wherever express their confidence in me. Even if I rope like crap they still seem to support me, I suppose because they've had those days too.
Shoot, and the whole talking about "feelings" thing..! oh man I know exactly what you mean. I lost someone because I was so bad at that, but that led to me starting to figure out how to "talk feelings" a little better with the next one.
I'm not one of those people who just spews profound wisdom and entertaining conversation 24 hours a day. I've also learned that nobody can expect me to do that; afterall a conversation takes 2 people. It sure helps when people ask the right qustions; boy then I can talk my head off! But just cultivating a conversation out of thin air with someone who wants me to do all the takling is sure tough.
Boy I'm a dork! But I love reading your posts - they are so relatable and well written.
One of my favorite things in the world happened years ago when Carol and I were headed out to the cow arena walking along in silence and she turned to me and said, "You know its nice sometimes to be able to visit without talking." I still think about that all the time. It resonated with me so strongly.
Your mom is the coolest and wisest lady :)
ReplyDeleteIt is seriously such an honor to me that YOU read this blog and like it, you're my hero Becky and someone I've always looked up to! So glad you're my friend! :)