Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Believing In Yourself

At the last horse show I competed in, I rode my young horse, Turner. It was his first show and he won Reserve Champion in his division. My veteran show horse, Nessee, who injured herself four days before the competition, won Reserve Champion in her division in her first two shows this year and Grand Champion her third time out.
     I was delighted with Turner's performance and as well as complimenting him, many people commented on how well I had ridden. They frequently do. I never feel as if I ride very well, certainly not as well as I think I could/should. I always give the credit to my horses and my great luck in having been blessed with wonderful horses.
   At this particular show, a friend of many years pointed out to me that I have always trained my own horses from the very start. In many cases, I bred and raised most of them. This is true. It's possible others are right and I'm wrong. Evidence points that way.
  While I believe I am a good trainer and riding instructor and I do well working with young horses and both child and adult students, I still feel I'm not a very good rider. I think many writers are this way about our work. When others praise our writing, it's easy to discount their opinions for whatever reason. When our work wins contests or gets published, we often feel it was just luck.
   Maybe we feel that even though a piece of writing is successful, indicating that it is good writing, we feel it isn't good enough. But if we are writing the best we can, our work is as good as it can be for the skill level we are at when we write it. Which means it IS the best it can be, if not as good as it could be if we wrote it when we have more practice, education and experience. We need to understand that and understand that our work will continue to improve.


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