January 1, 2024 Mill Swamp Indian Horses Is On the Move!

Some people in our program are waking up a bit conflicted. There might even be a few that did not sleep very well. Some people might not have slept well for the past several days. They are struggling. They are struggling to decide whether or not they trust themselves. 

Tomorrow morning many of us are going to bring in the new year with a ten-mile hike in the Dismal Swamp. 

Most of the people in our program have never walked ten miles at a time. Therefore, they do not know if they can do it. And for some, if they do not know that they can do it then they certainly cannot risk finding out. Some might even feel that in this entire world there is nothing worse than failing in front of others.

 But there are things much worse. It is much worse to live in fear of failure than it is to take on a hard challenge. It is much worse to worry about a challenge than it is to learn to push through challenges. Some young people and way too many parents do not understand the import of doing things that are difficult. It is not to prepare one's body to win a trophy. The stakes are much higher than that. It is to prepare oneself for every drop of rain that will fall into everyone's life. 

  Here is the core truth that most people never understand. Doing hard things does not make you stronger. Doing hard things simply allows you to understand how truly strong you are.

Doing hard things prepares you to fight. Doing hard things teaches you that you can fight. Doing hard things does not guarantee that you will win every fight but avoiding doing hard things does guarantee that every fight that you are forced into will be much more difficult if your only preparation for life has been to hide and avoid.

 We leave the tack shed at 9:00 am Monday to drive to the Dismal Swamp for this wonderful hike.