This little guy, a pony at only 14.1 hands tall (in comparison to his opponents 17.5+hh) created a fairy tale ending in Rio de Janeiro as he and his rider Karen O’Connor captured the Individual Gold Medal in eventing and helped the United States win the Team Gold at the 2007 Pan American Games recently. 

Eventing, the triathlon of equestrian competition, includes a cross-country race, dressage and show jumping events held over three days. Someone however, forgot to tell little "Teddy" that despite his deficit in size, he'd still have to jump the same heights and run faster than the others. He did just that and then some!




Just goes to show that it is not the size of your body, brain or wallet that matters but instead, it is the size of your heart. Thanks little Teddy for reminding us of that.

PHOTO GALLERY

Backpack?

$15.00 on eBay

Parking pass?

$48.00

Overcoming fear of failure and returning to school to become that which I was always meant to be?

Priceless


So, I know that this Q&A went around months ago. Truth be told I hated it when I read it. Didn't much like Brian and all his ThinkArete blah-blah either. It wasn't anything personal. It was just, in my heart, I knew there was one big, hairy, audacious fear of failure that was holding me back from pursuing my BIGGEST dream...... becoming a holistic veterinarian.

What if I am too old? What if I can't make the grades? What if I can't get accepted to vet school? Where will I get the money? What will I do with my animal family while I am away? Blah blah blah...... I had been telling myself that BS for more than 20 years; frozen solid on a path of fear without even stepping out on it to see if in fact any of those things were true.

Not anymore. Yippee! Today I return to UNLV to finish my BA in May and will be applying for vet school in approximately 18-24 months. I feel like this is my actual very first day at school. I've got my backpack, notebooks, multiple pens (just in case one runs out of course) PB&J, about 40 gallons of water (got to keep this brain hydrated for optimal use), campus map....do you suppose they let you tie your pack mule at the bike racks? It's pathetic really. But what was more pathetic was that it took me 20 years to finally give this a shot.

Don't get me wrong. I know that everything I have done until this very moment has prepared me to succeed on this new adventure. I am so very grateful for every challenge, opportunity, job and person from my past that has given me the strength to fulfill to this dream. I know that timing is always Divine and now is the time that was always planned to do this.

Fear of failure is a funny thing. It's like the monster under the bed. It gets bigger and bigger the more we think about its potential. Then one day we get just about curious and courageous enough to lean over and take a peak under the bed and we find there was nothing there to begin with. We made it up all along. 

Thank God to Brian and all his dang questions, to all my friends here at Zaadz (especially Mandy who was one of the few people I had the guts to tell this dream to and who encouraged me to no end), to my dear friend Ted who recently asked the question, "When you are sitting on your porch sipping lemonaide when you are 85 years old, what would you rather look back and reflect upon......that you gave it your all in the pursuit or that you were too afraid to try?", and to my other friends and family who all these years never gave up on me or the dream either. Here's to becoming that which we were always meant to be!