Race horses and mules

Race horses have a single purpose. They exist to move in one direction, fast. When all the right elements are in place, when the ground is laid out in front of them, when their diet, constitution, and the moisture in the dirt are just right, they sing. Seeing them move is perfection itself. There’s a reason one of our earliest technologies related to film captured a horse in motion. It’s mesmorizing.

Alright I’m going to absolutely butcher a metaphors here (no I didn’t mean you Boxer, I’m still scarred and hope you’re in a good place).

Seeing a race horse do its thing is amazing. But all the elements have to be just right. If something goes wrong it’s off to the glue factory. They can do one thing perfectly, but it takes a lot of support and wishing on a prayer for all the pieces to come together.

Then we have mules. They don’t give a shit.

Throw loads on their back, tie them to a plow, hike them up a mountain, throw guns on their back in a battlefield; that’s all an average Tuesday for them.

Sure they’ll never win the Kentucky Derby, but they couldn’t be bothered to know what that is. They’re busy getting things done. They don’t need a dozen handlers, a tiny rider weighing less than a sack of grain, or the ground to be just the right consistency. They’ve got places to go and a hundred ways to get there. They’ll carry a pack across a mountain munching on shrubs along the way.

In life I’m striving to be more like the mule. I want to be versatile, maybe a little stubborn, and willing to go anywhere and try anything.

I want to have resilience, an ability to handle the woes and whims of the world and not be put out to pasture just because I tear a toenail.

It’s also nearly impossible to be the racehorse. You have to win the lottery of life and birth, and you’re always one race away from disaster, or just a few months out from being replaced by a better new version of yourself.

I don’t need to be the one-in-a-million shot. I don’t want to chase the impossible goal my entire life. Instead I want to enjoy the journey, spend time getting dirty, and follow my nose where curiosity takes me.

Do I dream of winning the race? Yes, absolutely. But I also recognize that I don’t want to sacrifice everything in my life for the infinitesimally minute chance at a thing that won't bring true fullfillment.

So I’ll be a bit slower as I get older, maybe not race as fast as I used to, but I plan to keep going for the long haul, enjoying the sights along the way and offering value and help to those I meet along the way.