Member-only story
The Epiphany Fire
And coming out of depression
Setting the bar too high was something Stephanie had always done. It was her way of pushing herself for ever greater success. Experiencing successes brought her more happiness than anything. Experiencing failures was profoundly devastating to her. She felt like a ping-pong ball being paddled back and forth, back and forth, between the highs of success and the gut-wrenching lows of failure.
This behavior began in childhood when Stephanie’s father constantly urged her to challenge herself. “Never settle. Never give up,” he would say. “Bronze and silver are for losers. The gold is all that matters.”
Two indelible childhood memories plagued her well into adulthood. One was of the time she won first place in the barrel-racing championship at the county rodeo. There was a photograph taken of her smiling father with his arm around her as she proudly held her giant trophy. Her father had the photo framed and put it in the most prominent position on the mantle in the living room where it still sat so many years later.
The other memory was of the subsequent state championship. As she was saddling and grooming her horse a nearby sound spooked the horse and it stepped on her foot, breaking it. Despite the searing pain Stephanie still made her run. It was her worst performance ever and she was…
