Racing Prep

Having grown up an hour from Louisville, Kentucky, Derby season is one spring event it was hard to ignore.  Often, stories of horse trainers and farms were news feature stories, the uniqueness of horse names was discussed, and of course the fashion of the season was highlighted.  While I have never been to the Derby or the Oaks, I love the occasional opportunity to enjoy a day of watching the horses race live and in person.  Until you are up close to them, you really don’t realize the size, strength, and stamina of the Thoroughbred.  It really is extremely impressive.

While celebrating my sister over a girls’ weekend, we spent the afternoon at Keeneland in Lexington enjoying the beauty of the spring racing meet.  There, the horses are paraded in a paddock before going to the track so you can see some of the final preparations made before racing.  As we watched them parade and talked about height, muscling, and color patterns (even dressed up, we are still livestock girls at heart)- some things about their racing prep really stuck with me this weekend. 

To increase speed and decrease hindrances, some things are done differently for racing horses (especially compared to cattle horses or draft horses).  The saddle the jockey rides on is incredibly small and lightweight.  The jockeys themselves are quite small in stature, and when the bridle is put on it includes a pair of blinders to keep the horse focused completely on what is straight in front of it.  When these are in place the horse can’t look to the right or left to be distracted, they can only look at the goal (finish line) ahead of them. 

It made me think a lot about how different (and probably more successful) that strategy is than the way I often approach my life.  I think about the baggage I often carry around and how much harder it is to move forward when I carry that heavy load.  When I worry about what happened in the past (that I cannot change), what others might think of me, what anxieties I have for the future, what struggles I am battling- it is impossible to run a successful race of life.  Instead, carrying all that weight is more like just barely struggling to stay upright.  It makes me think how differently I would “race” if I wore blinders that kept me focused on the goal ahead.  The horses are not looking to the left or right to see how they compare to the other horses running along beside them.  Deep down, I know that comparison is the thief of joy, but sometimes in my human nature it is SO hard not to compare myself.  I look at other moms and feel like a total failure, I see wives who plan fabulous adventures and surprise favorite dinners and I think that my husband got the short end of the stick.  I see teachers who have spectacular test scores and are adored by every child and parent who has ever walked through their classroom and I wonder if I am just spinning my wheels.  I follow bloggers who have thousands of weekly readers and doubt whether my words even matter.  The comparison game is dangerous, and SO easy to fall into. 

But when I stop and listen to God’s Word, I realize I need to prepare for my daily life more like those race horses.  I should be setting aside all the weight of the heavy baggage that slows me down.  Jesus tells us to cast our burdens and cares on Him, we do not need to let them hold us back from what He is calling us to.  I need to put on blinders, so I am not looking to the right or left to compare myself to others, but instead listening ONLY to who HE says I am, and what HE wants for my life.  I am slowly learning to realize that my calling or path may be different from those to the right or left- and that is ok- as long as I am following HIS lead.  I should be preparing and training daily through prayer and scripture to race after the calling He has put on my life.  A race that will bring me closer to Him each and every day.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2