The power from getting started

How often do we want to achieve more but as soon as we realise this is what we want we become stuck in inertia.  Getting started is the hardest thing to overcome. To get to the next level of attainment we need to harness the power from getting started.

For some reason on a visit to Canada I found myself mounted on a huge horse.  Both the horse and I were fixated upon the stable wall in front of us.  It’s not that this particular stable wall was very interesting or that it was any different from any other stable wall anywhere in the world.  It’s just that I had never been on a horse before and had no idea how to get it to move and the horse was quite happy where it was.  A state of inertia.

At this point my motivation to move off towards the remarkable views of the Rocky Mountains was very high.  My family hurled abuse at my riding skills as they ambled off into the distance. I tried the ‘clicking’ noise and a ‘giddy up’, both of which were obviously lost in translation because the horse continued to stare at the stable wall.  I thought about taking a gung ho, razzmatazz, big launch approach, with the full slapping of the reigns, heels spurring the animal on, as seen in cowboy films.  This, however, presented too much of a risk; what if it got up too much momentum and I couldn’t control it?  So we continued to look at the wall, which was beginning to look the best option, after all it was hot outside and I didn’t really want to go horse trekking. I started to make up the excuses for not doing anything.

Big deep breath.  No one looking.  Grasping the reins, I kicked the beast hard in the ribs, hurled abuse at it and off we went, down the trail in a cloud of dust.  I believe that technically we were doing a ‘rising trot’. Not that it had much to do with me.  The horse seemed to go up as I was coming down causing spinal impaction and a need for dental work, but, we were moving and rapidly catching everyone else.   I think I was even generally steering our direction of travel.

Getting started gives you the power to move forward.  Sometimes it takes courage to overcome inertia, it may take time for others to want to join you on your journey and when they do it may be a bumpy ride.  If you take the risk then new possibilities will always open up. 

You may be asking ‘was the horse riding worth the effort and the risk?’; most certainly it was.  I saw the Rockies from a different perspective; we had a great day out.  I even learned new communication skills, most notably, how to swear in horse!