Last Saturday afternoon a short, skinny gelding won the Kentucky Derby by the biggest lead in 63 years.  Against every measure this horse is a loser.  But he  won.  Why not you?

Maybe you didn’t have all of Mine the Bird’s avantages.  After all, he was given up as a loser, gelded, rated at 50 to 1, and came out of the starting gate rather badly.

What if Mine the Bird had had a typical human Emotional Guidance System to get in his way?  No way he’d have been in the race.  No way he’d talked himself into showing up at the track.  He certainly didn’t LOOK like a race horse.  Every tipster who’d watched him run said Mine the Bird had no business in the Kentucky Derby.  The owner who sold him dumped him for $9500.

The ultimate show of lack of confidence is gelding a stallion.  For those of you not familiar with the horse world, this means–no million dollar or two dollar stud fees. Gelding is done for a variety of reasons, including behavioral difficulties, ease of handling, and when the owner does not believe the horse has any future value as a stud. 

Sometimes when I’m doing couples counseling, the man will comment on the woman’s emotionality by saying, “Well, you know how women are.”   I nod in agreement, adding that I’d never bought a female showhorse and never will because of their upredictability, particularly around a stallion or when they have babies.   The man always smiles, appreciating that “though I are one” I understand “how women are.”  I continue saying I’ve always showed male horses . . . geldings, of course.  The smile fades and we’re back to even ground.

How much do we let the expectations others determine how far with go with our dreams?  How much do your own expectations hold you back?

Someone’s going to win.  Why not you?  

But you do have to go to racetrack.  No one’s going to knock on your door, whip on a bridle, and lead you to the starting gate.