When I was 12, I had a beautiful horse named Dealer. He was chestnut in color, with four white socks and a white bolt across his forehead. His official name was Sir Winston, and he had been a show horse before he was mine. He stood 16 hands high and he loved to win. He would run on a moment's notice, and he seemed to know just when to kick it into high gear to beat any other horse he was up against.

The girls around the Maryland farms where I grew up rode English. The high top black riding boots with leather riding gloves and whip were standard attire. In the area where I grew up, groups of riders in their red riding jackets chased after the foxes with their hounds each weekend. They ran their majestic horses in the green rolling fields, jumping over beautiful white fences with their dogs ahead of them on the scent of the fox. It was elegant and beautiful to watch them, and I was enthralled with the beauty of the horses and the riders. They seemed to be one with their horse, and it was incredible.

When I first got my horse, I thought I would automatically be able to ride like the riders I saw each weekend. I didn't want to chase a fox, but I wanted to be able to gallop across the fields and jump the white triangular boxes. Little did I know that it was a lot harder than it looked, and it took a lot of patience and practice to get that good.

Even with my seasoned horse, I was a rookie rider. He would often get spooked by certain sounds and he really did not like men at all. It was always a challenge to get him to leave the safety of our riding area, but when he did leave, he was ready to run. And run he would - sometimes not the way I wanted him to. Sometimes I would find myself on the ground again, looking up at this big horse and asking myself, "What I thinking, getting such an animal?"

But I never let him win. He would buck me off and I would get back on him again and again. I never gave up and soon, he and I came to terms. I'm not saying I never got bucked off again, but I did learn his gait patterns and the things that scared him. I learned his ear positions and his little snorts. I could tell when he was getting ready to bolt, and I learned to calm him down and sooth him with my voice. And soon, he would only run with permission, and if he would get antsy, I would give him space around the other horses or people.

In a book by Malcolm Gladwell called "Outliers: The Story of Success," Gladwell repeatedly states that the key to success in any field is the "10,000 Hour Rule." He shows that in order to get good at any specific task, it takes at least 10,000 hours to master it. When I look at his idea, I think he is probably right.

I thought I would just magically climb up on my horse and fly through the fields. I had no idea what it really took to be good at something. I didn't realize to master something, you have to devote yourself to it, no matter how many times you got thrown off course.

So it's time to get going with your health. It's the New Year, and it's time for you and I to learn some new things and perfect some old ones. It's time for us to make good choices and challenge our old habits. It's time to get going with better food choices and improved exercise time frames. It's time to choose your mind and body health over anything and everything else in your life. No more excuses, no more falling down and getting too discouraged to get back up.

It's the 10,000 Hour Rule. It might take us that long to get good at taking care of our health, but we can do it. I know we can, and we can do it together. Don't worry if you get bucked off again and again, and have to climb back up and try again. It's OK; that's how this healthy living thing works. It takes time to learn how to live well, and it doesn't happen overnight. Don't worry if you ate the wrong things yesterday and you forgot your shoes again at home for your lunchtime walk. Just remember that tomorrow's a new day and this is a New Year, and it's time for you to be in charge of your health, one day at a time.

Join our New Year challenge, New Choices, because your health matters to us!

Sheree DiBiase, PT is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy with offices in Coeur d'Alene and in the Spokane Valley. She and her staff can be reached at (208) 667-1988 in Coeur d'Alene and (509) 891-2623 in the valley.