100 Happy Days - Day 1

Yesterday a friend sent me a website called 100 Happy Days. At first I blew it off and said I'd read it after work but during some downtime clicked on the tab I had the page open in and read through it. 

Basically the idea is that every day for 100 days, you post a photo of something that made you happy. As someone who takes way too many photos, I figured it would be fun to attempt to take one a day for 100 days and post them here. Realistically I know that I will probably forget a few days but my goal is to try and keep the challenge going until the end date (October 23) and add on the ones that I missed at the end. Hopefully it's only one or two!

So my picture for the first day is ....

To everyone (or almost everyone) but me this is just a pen with a handy dandy flash drive. But to me, it is a memory of challenges I've faced and goals I've yet to accomplish. When I found it in my purse today I knew it was the perfect thing to get this challenge started.

I was given this pen at our Darley Flying Start interview and the last time I saw it was a few days after I got feedback about what I can do to improve my chances for getting in next year. The memories it brings from the past are the hurdles I overcame just applying for the program. When the idea of applying was first brought up, I didn't think I had any chance of getting in or that I had enough people to vouch for me. It turns out that I have more people that I work with on my side than I realized before sending out requests for recommendation letters. 

Just sending the packet with my application to Ireland was a big step (there were many times during the final weeks of the process that I nearly talked myself out of it) and getting word that I was accepted for an interview was huge. The process of studying for the interview, preparing a presentation, and putting together a riding video gave me a lot of confidence, as did the actual process on the day of the interview.

I was heartbroken that I didn't get in but decided to "get back on the horse" after a week or so and emailed to get the feedback they offered. That led me to where I am today getting experience prepping yearlings, which is something I've always wanted to learn but wasn't bold enough to inquire about getting, and setting myself up for next year. The prepping yearlings experience has also had me jump confidence barriers but we'll get to that another day.

So to summarize, this pen reminds me of some not-so-great moments, but it also makes me happy because it represents how far I've grown in the past year and the major future goal I've set for myself as well.

Until next time,
Mel