Appreciating Where We Are

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

The quote above sounds as if it could be attributed to a famous author or world leader, but it came from none other than a famous bodybuilder, actor and governor. Since really only one person in history fits that description you could probably guess it was Arnold Schwarrzenegger. Like him or not, you don’t achieve what he has in life without passing along some words of wisdom along the way. It is that quote that I wanted to offer a quick pre race post.
Saturday night In Over My Head goes for win number six in a row. This run has been beyond thrilling for all of us at Team In Over My Head. I always remember when a member of the coaching staff at Madison Memorial, we would go on some great runs in the post season basketball tournament and as much as I wanted to reflect on what was happening I couldn’t. It is one of those things you can’t really appreciate until it is over and you look back. At some point, our streak will come to an end. Until then will go forward with every race and enjoy them to the fullest extent.
For a moment, though, I wanted to look back and take a snapshot of the big picture. What really makes this story of In Over My Head special is that he is so much more than just a race horse for us. He is a metaphor for our own lives and is an inspiration. We have all battled through life events over the time Mo has been a part of our lives and there will be more to come. In Over My Head went through his own struggles to get to where he is today. If you would ever talk to those who were closest to him during the toughest times, you’d realize they were not small struggles, but the type that would crush the spirit of most. Our own struggles can at times be just as bad, but much like Mo, our strength comes from never surrendering. Winning is the easy part, and God knows how much we want to keep winning, but whatever happens, the comeback to get to this point is something that we never will and never should forget.

To help remember how lucky we are to be here enjoy this link to a video Danny put together in March. It was from a night we finished 2nd, but ended up hurting himself during the race. With the backdrop of Eli Young’s ‘Keep On Dreaming’, we were just hoping for another chance to race. Luckily he did make it back and… He hasn’t lost since.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzCMVzR2oOk&feature=plcp

While we will keep on dreaming, we also know we are living the dream right now. I never knew it was possible to be so proud of a horse, but that is the case here.

Now go out there and kick some ass! Let’s Go Mo!