The Horse

When I was a kid, I thought fences were there to keep things in. The older I get, the more I realize the strongest fences are usually the ones we build ourselves. Fear. Doubt. Past failures. Other people’s opinions. The little voice in our head that keeps whispering, “You can’t do that.” Most of us have spent time standing in front of a fence that wasn’t really there. The business we never started. The dream we never chased. The conversation we never had. The opportunity we convinced ourselves we weren’t good enough for. The crazy thing is that many of those fences only existed in our minds. The horse knows something we often forget. Strength isn’t about staying where it’s safe. It’s about trusting yourself enough to move beyond what you’ve always known. Every meaningful thing in my life required stepping over a fence at some point. Starting a business. Writing books. Standing on stages. Making videos. Trying things I wasn’t qualified, prepared, or confident enough to do. If I had waited until I felt completely ready, I would still be standing at the gate. The truth is, confidence rarely comes before the leap. It usually comes after. After you try. After you fail. After you realize you’re capable of more than you thought. The horse doesn’t spend its life staring at the fence. It focuses on what’s beyond it. Maybe that’s what some of us need to do. Stop staring at the obstacle. Stop measuring the distance. Stop talking ourselves out of the life we want. Because sometimes the thing standing between who you are and who you could become isn’t a wall. It’s a fence. And some fences exist only in your mind.