This Thursday, Evan will be having back surgery. Yes, it is not ideal timing. I am learning that as they say, "We make plans and God laughs." We have known for about a month now that Evan needed to have surgery. I have gotten mad, cried, and got to work. As much as I hate for Evan to have surgery, I know that his health comes first.
While processing the start show season without Evan, I have learned a lot of valuable lessons. The first lesson is how much Evan does, and even more so how much I nevertrulyappreciated having my best friend and partner with me daily. I think of all the times he went at it alone with me out having Ellis and EJ and again, only now, do I "get" it. I hate that so much of true learning happens when we are faced with great challenges.
The second lesson I have learned is not limiting myself or others. We get in a rut. We all do it -especially when working with people or in a family. At work, Evan rides the young wild horses and Mary rides the solid citizens. It gets easier and easier to say, "You do it." If I am a little uncomfortable, I have Evan or Pablo to take care of things. Just like at home: Dad takes out the trash and Mom does the dishes. This is not about gender, this is just about jobs. All of a sudden for the past couple of weeks, Kelly, Meredith, Abby, Lauren and Christine have had to learn all of Evan's jobs. Yes, I appreciate what he does but also I have to admit- although uncomfortable- I have watched all of us grow and not second guess ourselves because there is not our Evan to ride it or fix it. It has been hard but it has been good.
Finally, the last two lessons I learned were the most important and together set the stage for our upcoming show season: Team work and Failing Forward. In order for us to make it while Evan heals, we HAVE to work together. Every job is important and of value. To succeed, we need each other.Fail Forward. In one my leadership books I was reading, they talked about failing and the most important thing we can do is Fail Forward. What in the world does that mean? It is simple, make mistakes but learn and grow. Don't be sad or frustrated or fearful of failure. Together we must get outside our comfort zones, make mistakes, learn and grow or better said: Fail Forward.
Ride the challenging horse, do the job that gets you out of your rut. Make a decision and when it the wrong decision, learn and grow because then you are failing forward. Work as a team, value yourselves and every job: it takes all of us to keep us on the road, productive at home and teaching riding lessons. Work Together. Fail Forward!
We love you Evan Orr. Thank you for all you do for us. Take care of yourself and take your time. We Got This!
Have A Great Week!