SPORTS September 17, 2007 Issue

RIDING TO FREEDOM

ELISABETH BRINTON

IN MY MANY YEARS as an equestrian athlete, the popular Bobby McFerrin song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" has often rescued me from competition pressures, performance comparison, and anxiety over championship qualifying goals. It's so easy to allow your own expectations, and those of coaches and teammates, to get the better of you and rob you of your happiness.

But a far deeper and more lasting solution to these challenges has always been my daily study of Christian Science, which has taught me that, through prayer, we can protect our thinking against negative impositions on our natural, God-given dominion and joy.

About a year ago, I found myself feeling tired, worried, and overly serious about my sport of dressage (the art of showing a horse's obedience, balance, and beauty). I'd competed as a teen, and then resumed serious training and competing after seven years. I cared so much about my goals, and had sacrificed so much even to be able to ride at all, that I suddenly felt overwhelmed. Though competition anxiety happens in most sports, it still came as a surprise to me. I wondered what had happened to my lifelong love of riding, and to the joy which, up to that point, had always filled my heart.