Adults Don't Bounce- Class Assignment

Melissa Beckwith
10/30/2014/ Vail College English 101
Compare & Contrast Essay

Adults Don't Bounce

Kids bounce.  They fall, get back up, and then go running off as if the fall never happened.  Children that grow up riding horses usually ride fearlessly. When a child falls off a horse, they usually get back on almost immediately, while the mother has a panic attack.  When an adult falls off a horse, they usually stay on the ground for awhile.  Some may say it's because adults are wiser, that they are contemplating what may have caused the fall.  Others says it's because adults are more prone to pains and broken bones.  I believe it comes down to a very simple theory;  Children bounce while adults typically don't.

It was about six years ago that I realized I no longer bounce like a child.  I was riding my grandmother's gelding, Hilly when I suddenly went flying through the air and landed in a heap on the ground.  A few years before that, I would have bounced right back up, caught the horse, and got back on, but not that day.  That day I stayed on the ground staring up at the sky as I contemplated getting up to catch the little pain in the butt that had just launched me.  I was sore, but not broken and my breath was still with me, which isn’t often the case when you hit the ground like I had just done.  The clouds formed shapes above my head on a blue background; a rabbit, a dog, a person jogging; and I stayed put, staring up at the fluffy characters above me.  The arena gate was closed and Hilly was busy finding grass in the center of the ring.  Dealing with him could wait a few moments.

When a child plans their future, they don't plan for failure.  As a child, one believes that everything will always work out.  As an adult, many seem to expect failure.  One may dwell on past failures and allow them to effect their lives.  There was a time, as a child when my life revolved around horses and riding.  I was a talent in progress, a hard worker, a fearless rider.  I felt as if I knew it all and was ready to take on any challenge, any discipline, and any “problem horse” that came along.  Falls, disappointments, and bad days never fazed me as a child. Back then all I needed to fix any heartbreak was a trail ride, an hour of grooming my horse, or an hour of lying in a field while my horse grazed beside me.  As a child, almost every goal, plan, and dream I’d had for myself was once based on horses and each and every one was attainable.  Somewhere between the death of my childhood horse and life’s happenings, things had become different and my unfinished goals became failed dreams that weighed me down every day of my life.

Many adults give up after failure or in fear of failure.  A child never considers failure as an option.  My dream horse --that I had started planning as a child-- was now a yearling and I’d just listed him for sale. I was no longer a fearless rider; in fact I had become somewhat of a timid rider, afraid to fall, but more afraid to get back on.  I no longer competed, unless I had to school a horse for a student at a small show and I didn’t enjoy preparing the horses to show.  I was proud of my students and proud of my program, but just emotionally drained. Though I had a barn full of horses to ride and a riding program that was steadily growing, I sometimes felt as though I was on the verge of quitting everything horses.  I stayed on the ground contemplating getting up and just putting Hilly away. Maybe today would be the day I didn’t get back on, the day I didn't bounce.

Children don't have time to think about failure because they are too busy bouncing back up to go on with their day.  Maybe children are actually the wise ones, allowing themselves to be distracted from such thoughts by the simplest bits of happiness that life can bring.  I stayed on the ground with my failures spinning around in my head.  Suddenly, whiskers brushed my right hand, interrupting my thoughts and making me smile.  I sat up quickly, grabbing Hilly’s reins before he could head off to the other end of the arena.  Standing up, I dusted sand off my breeches and fixed the reins around his neck.  Going to Hilly’s left side, I took the reins in my left hand up by his whither and untwisted my stirrup. Putting my left foot in the stirrup, I brought myself up and swung my right leg over.  “Jesus Christ, did you fall off?!” screeched my grandmother from across the barn yard, hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, “I wish you’d just put him away and leave him alone!”  Smiling back at her, I said as much to myself as to her, “Not today.  I think today, I’ll ride”.  Maybe I had reached a time in my life where I was slower to bounce, but I could still bounce.  Failure and fear would not keep me on the ground that day.

Children believe in fictional characters and miracles.  Their fears consist of monsters under the bed and in the closet.  An adults monsters are often in their own head.  Children bounce and adults typically don't.  It's because most adults know fear and failure like no child could or should ever know.  The monster in ones head keeps them from bouncing back and trying again.  While failure and fear is worth fighting, it's a battle some adults may never win.  As for myself, I have taken three more falls off horses since that fall and I got back on after every one of those falls.  My dream horse --that I'd listed for sale-- was taken off the market and is now a seven year old gelding that I am slowly bringing up in competition.  I guess I can say I bounced, not quite like a child, but I still bounce back from falls, failures, and fears.