Leaping over obstacles

There are many things I love about being a mom/wife/teacher/tutor/manager/life coach. Now that I think about it, there is definitely a common thread in each of these. For me, that common thread is helping people to overcome obstacles.  After all, obstacles are part of everyone’s life. Some face obvious obstacles. Other’s face obstacles that take a long time to discover. But with hard work and dedication, obstacles can be overcome. that doesn’t mean the obstacles are gone. One of my favorite parts of life is helping people live joyfully, and helping them develop their gifts and talents. It is breathtaking to see someone SOAR over obstacles; at times bloodied but unbowed.

It means that the obstacles no longer own or define you. Your mind and spirit can be very powerful. In learning, there are many ways to master a subject. Short of mastery, there are many ways to at least do well enough in the course to not have to repeat it. Now, I have many students. They are each special to me in oh so many ways. To run your race all the way to the finish line ~ YOUR race, not someone else’s race ~ is what it is all about!

There is one young lady that is extraordinarily special. I have been working with her for 4 or 5 years by now. I have seen her go from junior high to now a senior in high school.  I tutor her 2 or 3 times a week. She is dedicated, and works tirelessly without complaint. She has a generous heart, is faith-filled, has great aspirations, and is an equestrian beyond compare. Early in her schooling, her horses gave her great solace. She could master her horses, and that gave her the emotional rewards that her early schooling could not. She is a horse whisperer, in a way. She has the same loving, kind, and warm approach with her friends. People just naturally love her; how could they not?

Academically, she has struggled for a long time. She improves each year, and works steadily with nary a complaint. She spends hours and hours each day on her homework. She spent last summer attending a special program to help her with her dyslexia — which was just diagnosed last year. She was really discouraged about needing that program—BUT the tools she learned there are already helping her. She dedicated herself to her program last summer, and gave up most of her free time for the summer. It is really exciting for me to see how much the tools are helping her.

She is such a hopeful, sprightly young lady. Of course, her equestrian skills as a hunter-jumper continue to grow. She has it all these days—and she is about to have the world by the tail. She is leaping over obstacles ~ and I could not be happier for her. She’s one of my very special students. She is more than that. She has become a very dear friend. Just look at her leap over that obstacle ~ the concentration, dedication, and devotion….it is all there.