{"id":2232,"date":"2020-12-11T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/?p=2232"},"modified":"2020-12-10T23:11:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T23:11:47","slug":"the-importance-of-exposure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/the-importance-of-exposure\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Exposure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">The Importance of Exposure<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"772\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1211_Blog-772x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Ethan Tree Climbing\" class=\"wp-image-2237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1211_Blog-772x1024.jpg 772w, https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1211_Blog-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1211_Blog-768x1018.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1211_Blog-1159x1536.jpg 1159w, https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1211_Blog-1545x2048.jpg 1545w, https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1211_Blog.jpg 1679w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine a busy highway with heavy and overwhelming traffic zooming both ways. Now imagine you\u2019re a lost bystander on the side of the road and the speed, noise, and vibration of the cars frightens you. There are two choices you can make in this moment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Turn your back to the highway and wander aimlessly, just hoping to stay clear of discomfort<br>2. Make the effort to pay attention to the busy highway, no matter how frightening it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which choice do you think will get you to your desired destination? The second one, of course. By being attentive to the highway, you\u2019ll be able to flag down cars as they pass by and get a lift. This highway analogy was first introduced to me by one of my mentors, Kevan, and I don\u2019t think that I\u2019ll forget it anytime soon. For those who want to be sure that they understand it, the busy highway represents the countless opportunities that come and go here at the ranch and you can choose to either put your head down and live like a robot, or you can take advantage of the many learning opportunities available and work towards your goals and visions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first applied to become an intern at the ranch, I knew that I was going to learn a lot of new things, but I never expected just how much I would be exposed to \u2013 and thrown into the middle of. In 3 months, I learned many new life and business skills. But more than that, many situations, experiences, and conversations that I was a part of left an impact on me and I grew from them. Kevan liked to half-joke about how long my resume would be by the end of my term. Now, I\u2019m the type of person who likes an aesthetic and concise resume (1-2 pages) and so it wouldn\u2019t be quite practical to list out all of the experiences and skills I\u2019ve gained at the ranch. But I can list them here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In no particular order, these are the resume-worthy experiences and skills that I\u2019ve gained from my time at the ranch:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Western horseback riding (I even rode more bareback than I did saddled)<\/li><li>Horse tracking<\/li><li>Horse deworming<\/li><li>Wood chopping and splitting<\/li><li>Fire-making<\/li><li>Chainsaw operating<\/li><li>Tree climbing<\/li><li>Cooking and baking for guests (apparently, I\u2019m a pretty good cook)<\/li><li>Sledgehammer handle fixing<\/li><li>Archery<\/li><li>Public speaking and presenting<\/li><li>Mentoring<\/li><li>Social media managing and content creation<\/li><li>CRM maintenance<\/li><li>Website optimizing<\/li><li>Working in cPanel<\/li><li>Logo creating<\/li><li>Search engine optimization (SEO)<\/li><li>Paid Facebook and Google advertising<\/li><li>\u201cGuiding&#8221; with the ranch cat, Tosh (helping him catch mice and squirrels)<\/li><li>Skidder and CAT driving<\/li><li>Logging<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s more where that came from, but I don\u2019t think I can remember and recount them all. The point is, these are all of the opportunities that I could\u2019ve missed or avoided had my back been against the busy highway, intentionally or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I like to think that I would\u2019ve always taken the hard road and faced the highway even if Kevan wasn\u2019t constantly reminding us about seizing opportunities and promoting personal development but the truth is, it\u2019s super easy to fall into the trap of comfort and become stuck in life. So, I\u2019m very grateful for the empowering lessons I\u2019ve had here, despite many of them making me feel uncomfortable in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Up \u2018til now, I\u2019ve mainly been talking about skills I\u2019ve learned and experiences I\u2019ve had \u2013 external things. There\u2019s a whole other side of the coin (or extra lanes if we\u2019re still going with the highway analogy), however, and that is that of <em>internal <\/em>exposure which is something that is more important than external exposure. Everything I\u2019ve seen and been through at the ranch has affirmed that external circumstances are mainly facilitators for internal growth. Change and personal growth begin from the inside. It\u2019s up to you to choose what kind of attitude you want to have. Do you want to be a person who always seeks to find fault with others and avoids responsibility? Or do you want to make the conscious and more difficult decision to have a humble and cooperative attitude \u2013 one that takes responsibility and doesn\u2019t resort to deferral? Personally, I struggle with responsibility and deferral but it\u2019s something I\u2019m getting better at and plan to continue to improve at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of the future, my internship at the Chilcotin Holidays ranch is at an end and I\u2019ll be returning home to New Brunswick very shortly to finish my university studies with a newfound passion and focus (after my mandatory 14-day self-isolation period of course.) Thanks to my time here and all of the wonderful people I got to meet, work with, and laugh with, I\u2019m confident in saying that I won\u2019t forget what I\u2019ve learned here. My life is only beginning, and I thank God for even the opportunity to fly across the country for this internship, considering everything going on with the pandemic \u2013 speaking of which, it\u2019s almost like a different world out here in the South Chilcotin Mountains. It\u2019s so peaceful, beautiful nature is all around, and the air is so fresh. If you\u2019re feeling like you really need to escape from the city and the stress of uncertainty, consider coming up to the Chilcotin Holidays ranch for a few days. It&#8217;s truly a wonderful place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On that note, I\u2019ll say my goodbyes, both to you and to the wonderful Trails to Empowerment community here at the ranch. As we like to say at the end of our Morning Reviews, \u201cI appreciate you!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Importance of Exposure Imagine a busy highway with heavy and overwhelming traffic zooming both ways. Now imagine you\u2019re a lost bystander on the side of the road and the speed, noise, and vibration of the cars frightens you. There &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/the-importance-of-exposure\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,25,8],"tags":[10,26,93,95,94,5,14,31,96],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1211_Blog-772x1024.jpg",772,1024,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"horsie","author_link":"https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/author\/horsie\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":9,"name":"Chilcotin 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