A SACRED EXPERIMENT: LEAVE THIS MOMENT OR STAY

Espíritu

Veterans Equine Alliance

THE HORSE GUY

COACHING WITH HORSES

STORY #180

A SACRED EXPERIMENT —

Leave the moment or stay

? ? ? ? ? ?

Everyone gets lost four or five times in life. Not while driving, but more deeply when the things that drove us in life, interested us, utilized our talents and passions,filled us with a sense of purpose or calling stop having these desirable effects. Something is lost. Many of us don’t see these moments as naturally occurring dynamics in life. We see them as indicators that something is wrong with us, i.e., we should be having another kind of experience than the one we are actually having.

Today, will you join me

in a sacred experiment?

Just for today, let’s stop pretending

love is a snob

for whom we’ll never be good enough…

What if love desires more of a collapse

than a straight spine,

more of a willingness to stumble

than a perfect step?

What if she is offering

her hand to you now

before you’ve even learned the dance?

Yes, just for today

let’s see how all that goes.

( From Sacred Experiment, by Chelan Harkin, in Let Us Dance )

The most insidious aspect of feeling lost is that we are tempted to leave the moment we are in as we search for another moment, preferably one with greater clarity. It is uncomfortable not knowing! Not having clarity right now. It is as if we feel we are alone and isolated, not connected. Discarded and not embraced. Perhaps God herself has forgotten us. A strange and wonderful thing happens, though, with horses when we leave the moment. Horses leave us.

When we leave the moment we are no longer present. Horses sense us standing there pretending to be present while in truth we are mentally and emotionally somewhere else. This incongruence is a threat to them; they no longer know who or what we are. Our hidden truth — discomfort — has now become a secret, predator-like force, eliciting a fight or flight response from horses, the ultimate prey animal.

Humans have this same capacity to sense when something or someone feels weird or off. We feel uneasy, cautious and vigilant. We are apt to move away, if possible, and avoid further contact. Infants and young children show this same capacity to discern truth or its absence. They kiss or hug everyone but that one uncle or one friend who came for dinner. No one knows why. A hidden radar of sorts.

Leaders take notice!

Horses demand authenticity on the inward parts of the heart. We might get away with putting on a face for others; horses see through this immediately. Part of what makes transitions in life so difficult is that we are not there for them. We are not present for all of what happens, or what is available to us , in the moment. We leave.

Horses leave us when we leave the moment.

Recently, my partner, Lisa, was enjoying a tender moment in the pasture with Corazón, our gelding. At one point she shared how sad she was when she recounted earlier, painful, experiences he had had in life. Corazón walked away. Lisa knew immediately what had happened. She walked over to him and apologized for reminding him of an unpleasant time. Her own unpleasant feelings were incongruent with this actual moment they were in. Her apology covered this as well. Corazón turned and placed his nose on Lisa’s lips and held it there as if to say, “Thank you for coming back.”

The best way to move forward during times when we feel lost is to stand still. Stay in the moment we are actually having. It turns out there is a lot happening there!

Find us for half-day, one day, and multi-day experiences with our equine coaches. No fee for military vets and their families. Try not to spend much time figuring out whether this is something for you. It’s a bit like standing outside a restaurant and figuring out the menu. Come in. Eat. Afterwards, you’ll know if it was something for you.

VETERANS EQUINE ALLIANCE ?

https://veteransequinealliance.com

ESPíRITU

https://espirituhorse.com