Problems come at you so fast some times that you can feel completely paralyzed.

Your brain is overloaded. Overheated. Overwhelmed.

Emotions are flying. Fear, frustration, and panic seem to be hiding behind every corner. You’re confused. And not sure what to do.

And the truth is quite simple. You are not alone.

Every day, horrible problems happen to good people attempting great things.

That was the story of Kate and her bankrupt family.

In the late 1960s, a young Kate Tweedy watched her mother struggle to manage a Virginia horse farm that had been in her family for generations.

It started a dozen states away with her and her mom living in Colorado.

Her grandpa had made a series of horrible business decisions leaving the family stables financially crippled. The family attorney called Kate’s mom, Penny, pleading with her to get involved before they had to file bankruptcy.

And so thirteen months later, Penny Tweedy took over the Virginia farm and hundreds of thousands of red ink. If the debt wasn’t bad enough, the fact that all the best horses had been sold made the business of birthing champion racehorses almost impossible.

Almost. But entirely impossible.

Despite dozens of creditors asking for past payment and shareholders trying to force her to sell her farm, Penny hung on.

It was crazy. Out of 800 racehorse owners around the world, she was one of the only women. Despite the odds, the lack of horse talent, and her experience ever having done this before, she worked tirelessly.

In 1970, a horse was born in her stables she named Deo Volente (or “God Willing”). But the Jockey Club, to which all thoroughbred names must be submitted for approval, didn’t like it.

They said “NO”…

They also disallowed the names: Scepter, Royal Line, Something Special, and Games of Chance.

They rejected them all.

And like of things over the last few years, Penny just kept trying.

And so did that horse.

Three years later, that horse without a name, born on a farm without any talent, to an owner without any money, put on a five-week performance that the world will never forget.

That horse, we now know as Secretariat, destroyed all challengers, winning the Triple Crown of horse racing with staggering ease. And he just never stopped. When he died at 19 years old, he had won all but 1 race in his entire lifetime.

And his secret became clear years later.

When doctors examined the horse after his death, they uncovered a shocking secret.

Secretariat’s heart was twice as big as any heart they had ever seen before.

What made the difference?

One simple thing — heart. It was Penny’s heart. And Secretariat.

Call it resilience. Or passion. Or the unwavering belief that you’ll figure it out eventually.

Whatever you label it, you are going to need it.

Because life is going to come at you non-stop. And it might even be because you did anything wrong.

Besides all of Penny’s personal issues with obsessed family members and impatient creditors, the world was itself teetering on the edge of insanity.

There was still a war in Vietnam. Nixon and the ensuing Watergate Scandal were about to splash onto the front page of newspapers. The American oil crisis was looming. And the Olympics were destroyed by the assassination of Israeli athletes.

It wasn’t just Penny Tweed and her horse. Everything, everywhere seemed like it might be crazy.

And yet, in spite of the paralyzing drama and fear, the confusion and uncontrollable circumstance, what worked wasn’t brains or experience or logic or a better plan or education or money. It was determination and will and spirit and courage.

It was quite simply the one thing that you can never buy.

You have to choose it.

You’re not a horse and not a horse owner. But frankly, that doesn’t matter. You’re writing your own story. And the same lessons apply.

What you do matters. The choices and decisions you make have a clear impact on your future.

Your outcomes aren’t some accident or the result of mysterious karma.

The things that are happening to you right now might be the direct result of your actions and attitudes in the past. But maybe not at all. And even if you do find yourself facing the uncomfortable results of poor bad decisions — the choice you face next doesn’t really matter,

The truth is that your actions in the middle of chaos and fear dictate your future.

To change your future, change what you do next.

If you want something that you have never had before, you must do something you have never done before.

But just doing something different isn’t good enough. You have to be a better person. That starts by thinking better.

Regardless of what you do, what you think about most you ultimately become.

So if you allow negativity and fear and rage to drive your decisions, your future will be full of misery and frustration.

Having heart is one of those “thinking better” choices.

And it’s an option for you in a million different ways.

It takes heart to forgive people you’ve been holding a grudge against.

It takes heart to learn something new when going through the motions seems good enough.

It takes heart to get up earlier tomorrow and read a good book or learn a new skill.

It takes heart to find a mentor who will hold you accountable and push you outside your comfort zone.

It takes heart to trade your entertainment time for physical exercise.

It’s the small things that matter. Small things that you can get started on right now.

You need heart to make it past the rough stuff in life. Because fear and confusion and feeling paralyzed are pretty much impossible to deal with outside of that.

Giddy up.

The post Fast Horses, Bankrupt Living, And What To Do When You’re Feeling Paralyzed By Life. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.