No Big Deal

This Sunday came a milestone: I jumped Bo.

Bo is my trainer's Thoroughbred who had a rather unpleasant past - in fact he was found in a muddy corral, a bag of bones, filthy and completely untrained. I've been helping work with him some and had been riding him over ground poles. Now, I hadn't jumped a horse over any kind of fence other than trail obstacles...this millennium. No kidding. Oh yes, and thanks to the abusive behavior of my trainer as a child, I'm terrified of jumping in an arena.

Now, to be fair, the jump was very small...especially for Bo's lanky 16h+ frame.

How did I do it? Just the same as the ground poles. No difference. No big deal. I was able to make it no big deal and swallow my own fears. Let's just say the only problem with Bo was that he was enjoying it a little bit *too* much.

It's the same with any other milestone. Make it no big deal. Whether it's submitting to a pro market for the first time, sending your first novel out to an agent or applying for a job you aren't sure you're qualified for - you do it just the same as you have the smaller things. Then everyone, including you, can be calm about it and before you know it, you will be flying high.