Can't Never Could

My grandaddy had a saying "Can't never could". I have often thought about that saying. There are times when I am tired, my muscles hurt, my bones ache and I think I can't do one more thing that day. Then my grandaddy's voice echoes in my head with those words "Can't never could". It makes me change my attitude and once that is changed then I find the strength and the drive to keep going and keep doing. It might take me longer to do somthing, or I might do it differently. However, once I have given up the defeatest thought of I can't, then amazingly I can draw from deep down inside and find the strength to keep going. I cannot stand the word "can't". It is an awful word that sets a person up for defeat before they even start because once the mind is made up that it can't be done, then the body follows suit. I used to event horses and when I was 14, I was riding a new horse on a very remote course, that wound for miles back through woods. Nowhere near any kind of civilization. The person that was riding with me got way ahead of me and I was left by myself to bring up the rear. The horse and I both made a bad call at a very big jump and I flipped over his head and came down on the top log. As I crashed down that solid jump made of logs, the bones in my hip cracked and shattered. I was miles from anywhere, on the ground, in agony, but I still had the reins in my hand and a relatively calm horse looking at me like I was an idiot. I knew I could lay there and it would take hours for anyone to find me or I could get back on that horse and get back to the barn. "Can't" never entered into my mind. I pulled up on one leg and my arms on top of those logs and then coaxed the horse close enough that I could slide into the saddle from the wrong side. Then I made my way slowly back to the barn, where everyone was wondering what was taking so long and just getting ready to go out looking for me. I rode straight into the barn and they had to get me down and take me to the hospital. I got back to that barn because I thought I could. Looking back on it over the years since, I should never have been able to get back on that horse. But because I thought I could, then I did. I was also told then that I should never ride again. I have ridden ever since and even evented since then. I have ridden and competed with broken bones, cracked bones, sprains and pulled muscles. All because I never said "I can't". The pain of all those years has taken its toll, but I won't let it stop me. Instead of thinking I can't because I hurt, I think I will just because I can. The attitude can make or break a person. It can give you the strength and the willpower to go on or it can defeat you before you ever get started. Those who rodeo have a saying also, "Cowboy up". It means the same thing, look deep inside yourself and draw your strength from sheer willpower and determination. If you want something bad enough then do it instead of finding excuses why you can't. Can't never could. So cowboy up and do what needs doing.