Dont be scared by the word “divine”. Divine means all of us, we are all connected. We are all apart of it. Anything with a consciousness is apart of it. Every animal all over the world, humans included. Horses are a channel to feel it more deeply. Much like when you take a nature walk, or let the sun shine its rays down on you in the morning, you can’t help but feel you are interwoven with all that is. Even though all animals are intertwined in the “divine” connection; there is something different and special about horses. They are prey animals, but they aren’t always afraid.
With horses, they give us so much more than what meets the eye. As a horse girl, we always say the most peaceful sound is the sound of a horse munching on some dry hay. Funny the sound of people eating is a totally different story! But horses, witnessing them peacefully eating is so calming for us too.
Why is that? We connect to the horse without realizing it.
We feel their peace, we feel their comfort. Their energy is saying “I am content in this moment right now” and they give us some of that energy too. Its a continuous transfer of energy. Right then and there, we pause to hear the quietness.
Night check is one of my favourite times just for that reason. It’s dark outside but lights are on in the barn and everyone is peacefully in their “room”. I top up their water, give them an extra flake of hay and I say goodnight. But before I turn the lights off I pause, taking a big inhale to breath of it all in. They’re content, they have all they need. As do I. Food, water, shelter, companionship of fellow horses around them. What else do we need?
They need nothing. The horses are in the moment, fully satisfied.
Nothing else matters to them other than what they are doing, which is usually eating. It’s meditative. They connect us to the calm, then connect us to the true nature of being. They connect us to what’s most important; right now.
We can go through the motions of taking care of horses, we can rush and rush, which I think a lot of us do. We rush to ride, we rush to be done. But how often do you find yourself really in the moment with them? Allowing time to slow down and you slow down with it?
Someone told me “You learn from horses so who is really training who”. I thought about that for while and it is so true! Horses are one of our greatest teachers, but only if we allow it. Only if we accept that we have something to learn, somewhere to grow and improve on.
Next time, start seeing life through the lens of the horses. See how simple their existence can be in our safe fields, with all the survival requirements. They’re content, they have all they need in the moment. Maybe it’s time we start seeing how we also have all we need in this moment too.
What are your thoughts?
Readers Thoughts
“They remain attuned to the world around them while living completely peaceful in the safe moments.
As people, we carry so many moments around with us that we can’t see the present through them. The past and the future distract us from what is. Now. Here. Horses can help us to release what isn’t, and embrace what is. They have such strong and honest energy, it is impossible not to feel it when we are with them, if we are open to it. We need to allow their energy surround an embrace us; draw us in and connect us to the divine.” – Casey G.
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It starts with a good, go-to book you can fully express yourself in.
It represents you, as a horsewoman full of thoughts, dreams, goals, and desires. The blank pages are your portal to be heard, uncover and understand yourself better.
How Journaling Helps??
check out some other articles that journaling can become apart of. mindset, gratitude staying focued
This journal a birthday gift from my brother! I didn’t think I needed it but its been used for all my more personal writing and discoveries. I use it in the evening when I am decluttering my mind, gaining clarity on all that is. The things I’ve written in here have been very enlightening.
My path, my directions are slowly fading as I slowly stop moving anywhere. Why?
How do I create the once clear path infront of me again? Is it because with each step, my target seems to be taking a step farther away as well? Is it because I feel there are many different signs all leading to different goals and I want them all, but im not getting any of them.
There is a cross road, but I am in the middle of it and instead of two roads, there is about 6 of them spidering away from me. I cannot see all the way through them but I can see in the hill top in the distance what the signs read.
Which one do you choose?
The love? The enjoyment of life only? The business? The money? How do you choose what is best for you?
I want more. I want to be at peace.. Maybe that something I can have now.
I am building a puzzle. It’s not a path but an image of my entire life. One piece at a time, not necessarily a step. Each day I set one piece into the puzzle. The puzzle isn’t fixed, there is no box telling you what it looks like, it is yours to create and mold.
I feel like I’ve changed frames over and over again, the focus I set for the overall image never stays the same. Its can be the worlds hardest puzzle. Like trying to make pieces fit when every piece is grey. Without the clear image of what you want it to become, you will struggle to make anything at all.
This is where focus comes in. Your mind creates the image of the box. The clarity of each piece and where they belong comes from you understanding where you want it to go. Without you, there is no puzzle, there is no anything. Without direction, without the visualization of the future, there is no creation. The puzzle remains half attempted, changed, restarted over and over.
Maybe our lives are made up of many different puzzles? We have the hobby puzzle, we have the work puzzle, the relationship puzzle. But time and time again, we are always the one who decided the direction and the where.
How you are going to make the piece fit each day?
By knowing how it belongs in your life. By having clarity. By seeing the future you want. And by putting one piece in that puzzle. That goal puzzle. That highest self puzzle, what is a piece you can add to it today? What is the one piece? One piece at a time.
Like a puzzle, our lives are build by one at a time. One move, one moment, one decision at a time.
No matter how you feel, the sun will continue to rise. No matter how well your race was, the way you feel about yourself and your journey is all that matters.
In the grande scheme of things, what’s even the point of being nervous or having worried thoughts? Especially before a run.
You can’t control the outcome just like you can’t control when the sun comes up or goes down. Our thoughts are not connected to us. Worried thoughts are not helpful and luckily for us, we don’t have to label ourselves as them.
Disconnecting my nervous, pre race thoughts as just things my mind says to try to protect me and that they’re not truly who I am. I am not my thoughts and my world has changed.
What’s going to happen is going to happen. I just need to try my best and realize, there is nothing to be nervous about. My nervous thoughts aren’t me. The negative clutter that goes on in my head without my consent is not me.
I’m a small person on this big planet in the middle of no where trying to barrel race. I really have nothing to be nervous about, ever. Try hard, practice hard, but let the cards fall where they are going to fall. It’s a fun journey if we let it be.
I’ve also been reading @theuntetheredsoulbook and it’s been ?
What are your thoughts on what I said?! Does it make sense or not really?
When I was living in the states. I met a man. He was from a generation I’ve always been curious to know more about. As if my soul yearned for the desire to have lived through the 1970s as a 20 year old. I knew the stories would be about music, partying, road trips and just taking it easy. When I looked at him I saw the history. He looked older than the good old days, but the stories still seemed fresh in his mind. They took him back in time and they took me back too.
After meeting Brillo, I soon met his garage. That detached building was a teleport to another dimension. I didn’t know it right away, but I needed that place. The room was filled with all his favourite things; bikes, cars and music. He was full of life in there. Bouncing around as I sat on a single stool, holding a beer he only buys for his guest since he doesn’t drink. We would be in there for hours as he shared his stories, music and advice to me; this young girl he’d only just met. I looked around at the posters covering the walls and pieces of bike parts hangings up with pride. Each time I went in there I’d always spot something new and intrigued to hear the story that went with it. I asked to hear them all.
I wish I could remember all his stories, or remember what it was exactly that made him the most impressionable person I met through my whole trip. He had a way to make you feel heard and understood. Something I aspire to possess. I never questioned his advice as I could feel it coming from behind two eyes and a heart that has seen history and life longer than I. It felt true and I trusted his wisdom. Brillo, you knew just what to say!
The story I’m going to share is about the title. Born to be free. On one of my days off I was sitting in the passengers seat of Brillo’s beautiful black 1935(ish) ford custom coupe. With only the road as our destination. He had a suggestion what I should see during my short time working in Rapid City, SD. I accepted and we showed up to a classic car show parked outside the biggest Harley Davidson store I’ve ever seen.
There we parked among other classic cars and I could feel his presents there. People respected him as he carried himself high. He was at home with the community he loved and in return, they loved him right back.
While walking through the store with a beer I took from the free beer stand, we started admiring all the bikes. Dreaming of which Harley would be the best for a beginner like me. Staring at our reflections of these perfect, untouched bikes. Wondering, dreaming if there would be a day where we could hang up the car keys and ride our bikes to destination no where instead.
I knew taking a bike home was out of reach so I just kept scrolling through the lanes, admiring their elegant yet rugged beauty until there was no more. The bikes ended and opened to the Harley Davison apparel. The place where my travelling self could bring the funds to purchase a smaller memory instead. Just then, a teal sweater popped out at me. I held it up, my size! We both stared at it together, reading the graphics on the back. There was ribbon with the words saying “born to be free”. Brillo looked up at me without any hesitation, pointed to it and said “Look Shelby, thats you!”
I often look at that sweater and know Brillo is still with me. I feel him telling me “Shelby, be free! Don’t waver, don’t let others tear you down, you know yourself, you are strong and you are born to be free.”
Brillo, I miss you.
Your memories and your stories are with me forever.
Yes, I see you. I see you killing it. I am genuinely happy for you and your success with these horses. It is no small feat to become an amazing team with these animals. We literally sit on their back and control them enough to go through a barrel pattern.
Control them enough, but not right.. not enough control, too much control, not the proper headgear, too stiff, not stiff enough, too much rate, not enough rate, ok were bent, its in the wrong places now, oh wait. I don’t know.
It’s no wonder why this sport, that can look so effortless is so not effortless. We all work hard ok. Why does she and he seem to always get it right? Why is he able to start horses so perfect with no steps backwards? That horse and rider keep progressing just as those damn training videos online intended.
We try our faces off. We try our hands to calluses and wrinkles. We try with over heating and sunburns for days. We try with this horse, we try with that horse. We just try. And yet, sometimes it is just so damn hard. It’s hard to get the balance we need in order to look effortless. The right gear, the right training, the right mindset, the right physical abilities of both horse and rider. The balance is the key to our success. No wonder why it takes years of hard trying to figure our this game of training and running barrel horses.
When set backs present themselves, and trust me they do. What’s a girl supposed to do?
Grit her way through the constant feeling of unworthiness? Or maybe watch a few more training videos because at this point all second guessing our abilities thus far has come creeping in, do we even know what the hell were doing on this horse anymore? What is even what!?
That “what” is hard. That is the hard I am referring to. The hard self reflection, the hard realizations, the hard competitions, the hard comparisons, it’s all just freaking hard.
I am not going to waver though and I am not going to pretend it’s any other way. That would be a lie and a fake image I’m trying to portray to others who are feeling the hardness of this game as well. We are not alone in this. I feel it, sometimes more then I want. I wonder, what is this bullshit trying to teach me now? I already feel like I am below earth, why try to ground me down even more? I AM HERE, OK. Give this poor trying girl a break..Can it just be easier yet?
When life throws us curves and who knows, maybe even stones, or a boulder. What is the reaction you want to give off into the universe?
If I go to the place of my own mental bullying, then that will always win. My own dumb thoughts of negativity saying i’m not goo enough, I don’t think I’ll ever get it right, what are you even doing here, you try so hard and yet, look.. What do you have, Shelby?! YA, thoughts can be so dumb.
What I really need to do is remember.
For someone who has a terrible memory, this gift and curse of mine needs to be put in check from time to time. I need to remember MORE! More goodness, more joy and just more of ME. Me being awesome, me being proud of myself, me trying and not giving up no matter what, my accomplishments and all the history of this being that I am. At the end of the day, at the end of time, Me is all I have.
Remember that shit. Remember that time you dropped your life to move to the USA to work for trainers in order to learn and grow as a human and rider? Ya, I do. Remember the time you took this horse and made it something someone else wanted to buy? Yes. Remember that your life is worth living and you have the opportunity to make with it what you want?!!! Yes, I do remember that. Remember the birds, the moon, your dog, your horse, your fields, your friends, your support system.. YOU! Do you remember YOU?
If you’re going to try anything, try remembering more. More of you. The challenges you have faced already, the ones you have overcome.
You have done it! You can freaken do it again. You’ve done it before, you can and you will overcome this hardness again.
Life isn’t easy, don’t even try to change that because you simply can’t. Just like you can’t change your horse in one run or the placement of the moon. These things take time and if you’re reading this, lucky for you, you have the gift of time. Remember how rewarding the hard process is when the other side welcomes you with open arms. When you can finally say “Look! We did it.”
Hard = Learning and what are we without it? We can do the hard things. We can overcome it and we can win!
Give me your thoughts! Leave a comment. I want to hear you say “we can do hard things”
I heard of cold showers and thought “NO WAY! I hate the cold, as if I’d ever put myself through that torture for no reason.”
Well, I’m here to say there is a reason!
Once I did the research and learnt about the actual benefits, it became obvious this was something I was interested in trying. I looked up people who are cold shower advocates and learnt why/how/when you do these cold showers.
Basically, how do I get through this shower and what is the purpose?
Here are my findings:
First, it’s not the cold shower itself, it’s what the cold shower represents in our lives. It could be the anxiety we face on the daily, a competition we are preparing for.
A cold shower takes form in so many ways in our lives, it represents obstacles we must overcome.
Secondly, it’s proving to ourselves we can do what we find hard or a challenge. Nothing like forcing yourself under cold water to realize you really are capable of that and now, so much more!
Thirdly, it’s teaching us how to handle ourselves under uncomfortable situations. If I can breathe through cold water torture and stay calm and accept the cold. I feel you can handle the pressure of competition that much better. “I can face adversity head-on because I trained myself ahead of time”.
It’s my favourite thing to mindfully do stuff that gives me secondary benefits. I look at a cold shower as training myself for my future. The by-product of my cold showers will show itself when it really matters. For me, that’s handling nerves at a barrel race. It’s me showing up as my best self and rider when it really matters. Remember, being your best self is taking small steps every day to help you succeed later on.
Such an unusual setting, like the shower, is giving me the strength for when I need it the most.
OK, so now we know some reason why people take cold showers. Now, let’s hear it with the excuses.
Excuse #1: I have bad circulation, I can’t do it because my hands go white and it’s not good for them.
False – Well, ok, you are right. If you suffer from poor circulation like myself, letting them get cold and go white frequently is definitely not good. BUT, for me, it actually helped my hands! When I’m able to relax during the cold shower, my hands and feet didn’t lose circulation after. I was in control.. its weird but its true.
Example:
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Excuse #2: It’s too hard, I can’t turn the leaver over to cold.
– Well, life is hard! This is one thing you can do to prepare yourself better. One act of being uncomfortable is going to prepare you for so many elements that life brings, so why not try? It is hard, but you’re stronger than the cold. Prove it to yourself that you can do something challenging. You are strong and capable!
Tips to get ready:
Mentally prepare yourself. Take some deep breaths to help get your body ready and your mind ready to accept what is about to happen.
Start Small. Try for 10 seconds, WOAH its cold! Then, progress until you reach 30 seconds, then 1 minute and so on. Do it until it doesn’t become a question if you’re going to, you just do it. Embrace it, don’t fight whats happening. Once you accept it and embrace it, the cold honestly doesn’t feel that bad and now you feel freakin amazing. It’s like a shot of coffee into your soul!!
Unleash your inner Wim Hoff. Accept the cold, be in the cold and be in control.
I challenge you to try. Comment below if you think you can do it!
‘There’s a video floating around the internet. It’s called Be a Lady.
I just watched it and this is my take on the film. I heard a few different reasons or people giving comments on what the film or that poem initially meant. My take is that whole thing, there is no winning, there is no third option that is like, “okay, that’s good now you’re perfect”. There is absolutely no perfection anywhere and the perfection that we put on ourselves, either from what we’ve been told our whole lives or just what we feel.
Then we see it online and we basically just get proven to ourselves that that is perfect and we are not perfect.
I have felt that growing up I definitely was not a big person. I was very skinny, very white and I was told that like it was a bad thing. Like you should be more of this, you should be less of that, you should be more talkative, you’re too quiet. And then it goes, you need to stop talking. There is just no third option where you win and that’s what I got from this video. No matter what, whatever society has told us or whatever we have told ourselves or our parents or our friends, there’s an impossible goal that we have. We’re going to be miserable to ourselves trying to find it and it’s not going to happen.
We could go our whole lives trying to form to what society or what we’re told we want and what we should be in order to be happy and I call bullshit. It’s not real.
That video just hit home for me and I just felt it deep because I think everyone’s experienced it. Men have, women definitely from my experience, I know we have. We need to realize what that means, what those feelings we feel mean and not let them control their lives.
We need to be stronger, which I mean it’s not easy to say. But even saying, sorry, we should not be apologizing for anything in our lives; anything that is a good thing for us. We should not have to say sorry to society.
I need to be me; I need to be the best me I can be. And that is the only thing that I care about right now. I hope for you as well. You just have to be bet the best you. You can’t please everyone.
There is no perfection anywhere in the world and don’t ever think there is. The fact that “perfect” doesn’t exist and you’re not perfect, basically means you are perfect, just the way you are.
That’s what I have to say about it. So thank you for watching. This is my take of Be a Lady, they said..
Meeting people is inevitable. Humans are social creatures and we are told we have to interact throughout to be apart of this society. If the thought of it makes you internally shake, then, I’m here to tell you that uh ya, me too.
But it doesn’t always have to be that way.
If someone told me before “oh you get to meet so and so” I would smile and act excited and say something like “okay, cool!” but deep down it was a very different story. I would tell myself “This is no biggie, I meet people all the time. What is there even to be worried about? Confidence Shelby, confidence.”
Despite all the unnecessary anxiousness I have caused myself, I do actually enjoy meeting new people! Everyone has something interesting they can bring forth and maybe even teach you. I believe that every single person I meet, no matter who it may be, knows at least one thing I don’t. It’s a humbling concept, but it’s true! What’s more refreshing and honest than admitting that maybe you don’t know everything? We sense open-minded, curious people and just speaking for myself, I enjoy interacting with those guys! Humble people are the best.
The struggle can and usually is the initial contact with someone. We are all trying to master this game of life so maybe putting everyone on the same playing field makes it way easier to talk to them. When you look at those unfamiliar faces, just think of them as another fellow, imperfect human that’s trying to find their way through life. It works as an unfearful way to go out there and interact with the scary people of the world. Everyone has a different story and has learnt different things, just start the conversation and let them drop some experience or wisdom on you. It could be life-changing!
Being mindful to stay open and eager to interactions can open countless doors for you. Where I am now, stems from a long line of interactions and experiences. I’ve only had two jobs working for non-family members and both of them happened without handing in a resume. By showing up, asking questions and having conversations with, at the time strangers; it did more than a piece of paper ever could. Our personality speaks volumes and forcing myself to step out of my comfort zone to show people who I really am, allowed me to connect with those future employers. It’s crazy to think none of it would have happened if I didn’t show up and network as my true and honest self. It’s not easy to do while dealing with the anxiety of putting yourself out there but trust me, its worth it; and like anything you do in life, the more you do it the better you get and the easier it becomes.
They say positive thoughts generate positive feelings and attract positive experiences. The same logic applies for meeting people. If you can be open about who you are to yourself and everyone around you, it becomes a magnet for the same things to come into your life. I find it easier to approach someone who comes across as honest and friendly since it brings out your honesty and approachability as well. It just makes for a good first connection! Also a bonus, it will naturally keep those people in your life who actually like you for you. What a novel idea!
With all these people coming in and out of your life, every one of them has a purpose for you. You might not see it at the time but everyone can teach you something if you let them. I was once told there are two types of people you will meet in your life. One is the person you inspire to be like. You see who they are, what they’re doing and you decide that’s how you want to be as well. On the flip side, there are the people that you meet and you realize you don’t want to be like them. They may treat you or others a certain way that you really despise but try to you keep your positive values intact and step back to observe what it is they do. Try to notice it and don’t follow their ways. If you take that unpleasant experience as a step toward personal growth, you just figured out that negative person taught you something as well; who you don’t want to be! You can’t control how others act but you can control how it affects you, ultimately you are in control. Choose to learn from it and move on from that unfortunate experience and person.
The beautiful thing is you can take all that information from others and choose what you want to apply to your own life. Then, focus on being that person others aspire to be and more importantly who you want to be! If you can inspire and change one detail of someone’s outlook on life in a positive way, you just won.
Another thing about this is you don’t have to tell people you’re a good person either, your natural aura is noticeable to everyone. There are no shortcuts here, but luckily, if you’re a decent human to everything around you, that won’t go unnoticed. So, why are you going to show up any other way? Being the lovely, natural self is by far the best and only way I would ever want to be present at any moment.
Maybe it’s just a one-time, interaction with a stranger. You might have made their day by just being present and listening to them. They might be sharing some random story to you from when they were younger; just give them your time and attention. Time is the most valuable thing we can give and luckily for everyone, it literally is free.
To Conclude, people don’t always remember what you said to them, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
With that being said, I challenge you to be positive, be you and try to make someone smile. Develop the mindset to get out of your comfort zone and go do the whole meeting people thing. You likely won’t regret it and who knows; It could become the beginning of something so great in your life and you don’t even know what it is yet. The novelty of the unknown is powerful, go explore it!
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