GET BUSY
 

We have seen it again and again. When life hits hard, there are two paths people tend to take. One is to collapse and stay there. The other is to get up, get moving, and try to create meaning out of the mess.

Neither path is perfect. Neither path is painless.

But the second path is the one that eventually leads somewhere.

Chapter Two is about that kind of movement. The kind that does not come from having it all figured out. The kind that comes from realizing you have one life and you do not want to waste it pretending you have unlimited time.

A Shift That Started Early

Kari’s life did not only change through her mother’s influence. It also changed through moments that cracked open her worldview and made her feel accountable for the direction she was choosing.

As a young woman, Kari attended a Christian summer camp. It was there that she made a decision that shaped her internal compass for life. She asked Jesus into her heart, and she meant it. This was not a phase. It became a promise. From that point forward, she believed her choices mattered. She believed she would be held accountable for the way she lived.

That kind of decision can be heavy, but it can also be freeing. It gives life a framework. It says, “I am not just floating through this. I am choosing who I become.”

You Get Back What You Put Out

As she stepped into adulthood and began building a life of her own, Kari was introduced to a book that many entrepreneurs know well, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The message landed deeply. Life gives back what you put into it. If you want something different, you have to do something different.

So Kari did what driven people do when they feel possibility for the first time.

She got busy.

She created a vision board of a house she wanted to build one day. Not because she had money. Not because it was easy. Because she wanted roots. Because she wanted stability. Because she wanted proof that the future could be shaped by intention instead of circumstance.

That kind of vision is not fluff. It is direction. It is a decision to stop drifting.

Marriage, Motives, and the Need to Prove Something

At eighteen, Kari married Dan, who was the vice principal of a local school. She had a thought during that season that many young women carry without even knowing it.

If I can make this work, maybe I can prove something.

She wanted to prove to her mom that staying married for life was possible, something Faye had never experienced herself. This was not about judgment. It was about longing. It was about wanting a clean, safe story. A story that felt steady.

But life rarely follows our scripts.

The marriage lasted five years, and when it ended, Kari felt something that surprised her.

Freedom.

She was only twenty two, and she realized the relief of leaving something that did not fit. That relief became its own kind of lesson. Sometimes the end of something is not failure. Sometimes it is a doorway.

The Moment That Changes Everything

That same year, Kari experienced a moment that rearranged her nervous system forever.

While working a shift at a fast food restaurant, she stared down the barrel of a gun. A gunman came in to rob the business. In that instant, Kari understood something most people never truly grasp until it is too late.

Life can end in a blink.

When you know that for real, you do not live the same way again.

She was shaken to her core. But she also felt a strange clarity. Her life was precious. Her time was not guaranteed. And if she was going to live, she was going to live fully.

This is one of the reasons Kari talks the way she does today. This is why she pushes people to stop waiting. This is why she does not baby anyone’s excuses. Not because she lacks compassion, but because she has seen how quickly the chance can be taken away.

The Entrepreneur Switch Flips On

Kari also knew something else at a young age.

She wanted control over her life.

She had worked many jobs. She had proven she had a strong work ethic. She knew she could grind. And because she grew up with Faye’s message that you can do anything you want to do if you keep moving forward, she did not second guess herself the way many people do.

So she chose entrepreneurship.

Not because it was safe. Because it was hers.

This is a theme you will see over and over in her story. Kari does not wait for permission. She creates a path and walks it even when she is afraid.

Love, Family, and Letting Go of What You Love

Only a few short years later, Kari met Tony, who would become the father of her three daughters. This relationship brought beautiful gifts into her life, but it also brought a moment that shows how real dreams can be.

To purchase her wedding dress, Kari sold her horse.

That sentence holds more weight than it seems.

Because when you sell the horse, you are not just selling an animal. You are selling a piece of yourself. You are choosing survival and practicality over longing, at least for a time.

Many women do this. They trade dreams for responsibilities. They call it adulthood. They call it being realistic.

But the dream does not disappear.

It just waits.

Why This Chapter Matters to the Work We Do Today

At Equine Connection, we partner with horses to help people see the truth of their own patterns. And one of the biggest patterns we see is this.

People delay their dream because they think it should feel easy.

But dreams that matter rarely feel easy.

They feel like risk. They feel like work. They feel like sacrifice. They feel like stepping into a version of yourself you have not met yet.

Chapter Two is where Kari’s life starts to show that truth clearly.

She learned accountability. She learned vision. She learned urgency. She learned entrepreneurship. And she learned that sometimes you have to let go of what you love to build what you love later.

Final Thought

If you are waiting for the perfect time, this is your reminder.

The perfect time is a myth.

There is only now.

Get busy. Not with frantic action. With intentional action. With the kind of movement that builds a life you actually want to live.

Because your dream will not come knock politely forever.

At some point, it demands an answer.