What My 11year old Taught Me About Resilience

My 11-year-old daughter is named Bella. She loves horses 🐎 and about 2 years ago she asked me if she could take a riding lesson. I know NOTHING about horses so I was a bit surprised and went out to find a place where we could take some lessons. After trying a few places, we ended up at a place that was perfect for her. She took to it very fast and had good form. Her trainer asked if we wanted to start showing but I had no idea what that meant. I soon found out it meant competing at various shows and locations throughout the state. This also means travel, hotels, the cost of her trainer’s time and their travel, etc. It was a whole new world. I didn’t know how she would handle it, but I was curious to see how she would deal with defeat and/or success. 

She trains one or two times per week and I’m in awe of her seeing as though these horses are huge, regal and a bit intimidating. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase when you fall off the horse, you’ve got to get right back on. Well, it happened, she fell off the horse. I have it on video and you can hear me gasp. It took everything I had not to run out to her and see if she was ok. But I stayed in my chair and lo and behold, she calmly dusted herself off and got back on the horse. I was relieved. 🤗 

Little did I know this would happen several more times. Most recently she was at a horse show and the horse didn’t want to go over the jump. It had gotten spooked by some flowers on the ground and stopped in its tracks. My daughter went rolling off the horse, onto her back and hit the back of her head. The horse then booked it right out of the ring and was running loose through the park. I thought there was no way she was getting back on this horse. That was too scary. We checked her and physically she was ok. She was a bit overwhelmed, but she said she still wanted to compete and wanted to get back on the horse. I even told her she didn’t have to, and she said, “Mom, I came here to compete, and I know I can win. I’m getting back on that horse.” 😮 

I couldn’t believe it. Me? I would have called it a day. My 11-year-old….Not giving up. She ended up being Grand Reserve Champion that day (2nd place overall) for her age division. It was this event that gave her enough points to move up the ranks (she started in 8th place) to finish in 2nd place at the year end banquet just a few weeks ago. 

She put in the work, experienced many setbacks, fell off her horse many times, but never gave up and she achieved her goal. It’s a great reminder as an entrepreneur that we often face setbacks as well, but what separates you from the pack is how you handle them. 

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the real estate market, and we don’t know what’s in store for 2024. If my 11-year-old can be resilient, I’ve got to find a way through. How are you going to get back on that horse to reach your goals in 2024? I'd love to hear from you. 📣