Tag: Spirtual

What are we here for….

Now I knew with a heading like that your our expecting some deep physical or theological thies on how to fix some united human problem of life. “Get to the root cause of things” as it where. We are for best or worse a “fix it” society. We have ingrained in our minds that if there is a problem we are endowed with the human power to  Fix it.

This is one of those concepts that I am not naturally good at.  When I fix something it usually brakes again or isn’t really fix at all!  The time and energy applied is never equal to the finished product.


I spent about 30 hours fixing the ATV we use for chores around our little outfit. Its a very handy and economical way to get around in the mud, and get tools and feed around the place. Somehow in all the “taking apart”, it started to work, and in time it took to put it back together. It stopped working again. Oh we can laugh about it now…


I tend to be more of a work with a problem kinda guy. You will often hear a phrase around our outfit that sound like this:

Me:    “…well honey I’m fixen to go to town,  needanything?

She:   “ I’m fixen to make bread, and need some flour and…. Never mind I’ll just come withya”. And yes we do run a lot of words together sometime just to get that bit of communication out at the speed of light, like on the internet.


Now before you come to the conclusion that rural people are uneducated and never learned much good grammar, cause we didn’t get enough schoolen.

Let me just point out that right now there millions of professionaly educated people in the metropolitan areas, that are speaking a paragraph of acronimes to another professional in the same profession, and anyone else wouldn’t have any idea of what was being communicate no matter how educated you are.


My professional wife is educated in knowledge that her colege in the marriage, is very impatient while looking at all those little special ingredients in the bakery ayle, and while in al probity came home with the wrong kind of baking properties requirements for the formation of bread to develop. ( we call this: WKBPRFBD).


Or that he will start to communicate with a colege at the “physicality of equine and bovine substance and husbandry specific material dispensary,”  (we call this: THEFEEDSTORE), and completely forget all about the makings of bread, which she affectionately calls DSOB syndrome.


As a professional husband, I  have learned that there are SJLGT implants that are being activated. (For you laypeople it simplify means … she just loves to go to town…) But I have digrest on this fall day as white stiff cover the green, as well as race by at 30 plus mpr or miles per hour.


Anyway…I have found it interesting that there is a big difference in the feeling  of Fixen To, and Fixing It. And of course it brings to mind another story.


As as horsemanship clinician or EDC, business (I’ll let you have fun figuring that one out by your self). I like to start our time with a little questioner about the characteristics of both horse and rider. Of course the horse can’t talk or even write, it is up to the ride speculate on what their horse is thinking and write the horses response.


Unbeknownst to me at first, was how profound the results were on one question. Why does your horse like you? Over 98% of people answered: Because I feed him/her/it. Now whether you never seen a horse or lived your life on and around these beautiful creatures, there is an amazing revelation as to the our humanity or perhaps our lack of it.


We often live in the shallow existence that leaves us less than who we really are. When we are in  “Fix it” reality, we throw the horse some hay or open the gate to fix the horse/hunger problem,  and go on to fix the next problem of middle school homework .


Life is valued and devalued in every moment of interaction.


When we focus on the hunger instead of the horse, or the homework instead of the kid, we short change the interaction and loses the value of what we are here for. It creates a difference in prospective about of being against a proplem, because problems are bad. Or we are being for the person with the problem, because problems exsit.


Now it’s adout this time in any conversation I have with someone that they feel the need to put some sociological or theological label on it like: “ selfish” or “self absorbed”, “to goal oriented”, “type A personality”.


For whatever reason we find it some how important to give it a name or an acronim. We believe when we can define it, we can fix it. Like my ATV, if I know what part is broken, and find the name of said part, I can spend two hours Googling it. First we Google the problem, then we Google the the possible parts that my cause said problem, then Google prices of said parts for said problem….


That’s why we have so many self help books, religious teaching. We have the problem and it can be fixed when we know what it’s called. We go to church because my neghbers have a morality problem. We read books about Bill Gates because we have a financial crisis…. We search the world thinking we’ve found true love, they meet a another and… there gone.


The “FIXIT” reality is a need driven reaction that comes with many restrictions of time, place, and resources. It often creates problems faster than they can be fixed. We are motivated by the a spiritual influence of being frantic. We emote frustrations based on time and money, and struggle with the insecurities of success and failure.


I have come to a great revelation, that this is completely unnatural to what we are here for. We where not created to be frantically frantic. Our created nature is not designed to fix IT, but to a more restful energy of “fixing to”


I had a young man who was honestly interested in a more natural way to work with horses in the occupation of being a cowboy for a local ranch. We were visiting one day as we rode out to check cattle. I asked him who he had worked with and what he thought about their horsemanship aproch.


His response was very common to the culture we live in. He said that so and so had been really good with horses and know a lot but that them, but he was to slow in getting to the point and he got bored. To which I could only reply in response, that learning good horsemanship skills is alot like watching paint dry.


The feeling of need to fix IT, is contrary to our created purpose and as a result we are left with hardships of existence. We are created to give value to the moment of the experience and feel the value it gives to us. We are created to live in a restful atmosphere because our Creator is restful by nature.


The feeling of “fixing to” creates emotional actions of: taking the time it takes. I can give myself the time to find the right tools and information. To naturally except setbacks and unforeseen complications. Understanding that the value is in the moment (fixing to)  and not the finishedness of the task, and often leads to a better fixed situation.


What we are here For… is a natural response that releases us into the creative creativity of our Creator. While what we are against… leaves our  existence shallow and and filled with struggles, the striving with strife, always coming at life from the negative in despration of a need for the positive.


We are not created to struggle and fight fixit all the time.  We are created to have relationship that leads to fellowship. We are created to be for the moment and the humanity of creator. 

Just some thoughts from spending to much time in the saddle. Hope you will hang around for more. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. 

The humanity of being human and the horse that could Go. Part one. 

As that big fellow hit the ground, I knew he was going to hurt for a week… if he hadn’t just broke something. My partner and I, who had working real hard to make sure that horse didn’t do THAT, couldn’t help but  grow a big smile. If hadn’t been who it was, we’d having laughed out loud, (It’s a strange thing about cowboy humor, not all people appreciate it, and this fellow would have been one).

It’s kinda a considered courtesy out west, when a fellow falls off his horse, to wait a bit. It’s seems best to let a fellow catch his breath, find his hat and dust himself off before you ride over and ask the question “what happened?, trying to seem ignorant to the foolishness you just witnessed .

 

It slowly became apparent that no medical attention would be needed immediately.  My partner pulled it together enough to ride off after that Arab horse, that was still circling the arena dragging this man’s saddle.

 

I just pulled my hat down a bit and moved my horse to intercept his wife and daughter (in hopes of keeping them from being run down by their traumatized horse), who were trotting afoot across the dust to the seen of wreck.

 

I personally hate these times. We work so hard to created a relaxed and willing horse that a person can take home and have a great relationship with for a long time. Having to ride up there and seem empathetic, and come up with something other than “I tried to tell you…”, always goes against my being human.

It’s always a bit awkward to set there and not look smug, when you just spent forty-five minutes showing your clients what we do and don’t do at this stage of training. And  why we do and don’t do with your horse. And even ride the horse in front of you, in relaxed and willing way.

 

This is where we find a great conflict between the reality of our created humanity, and our being human.

 

Seeing that I’m very good at making a short story long, I will endeavor to not to fall in any proverbial gopher holes in this conversation.

 

I got a call one evening from a lady that was wanting my services in starting a five-year old Arabian gelding, it was a normal visit with the usual, “never been rode… didn’t know much about him…. Seems like a nice enough horse…Her daughter and her were hoping to take up competitive trail riding.

 

I  listened and quoted a price for the first month, which she replied with a hint of excitement, was a fair deal. She said that she lived on very large cattle ranch, that I was quite familiar with, some three hours north and would be there by noon cash in hand.

 

(Now let us just look in this conversational gopher hole for just a minute without stepping in.)

 

This ranch that she said she lived on was a big rough outfit. They had more cattle, land and horses than most people will see in a lifetime. Those boys that made their living there, were born with spurs on. They ate their breakfast on a the back of a bucken horse, and ate suppers on a back of a gentle one. So I quickly surmised that they were “horse people“.

 

She and her daughter arrived the next day in a timely manner. And commenced to unload this tall, narrow, bay Arabian gelding. Bigger than life itself and feeling he was worth it. Not surprisingly they called him “King”.

 

They were both very nice and eager for me to work with their horse. It was rather apparent that there were somewhat fearful of this thousand bounds of uncontrolled energy, and justifiably so.  I did make such to explain to them that 30 days of working with him, may not be enough time to create the confidence in him to be rode safely. But they were welcome to come out and see what we were working on. And we could asses where he was at mentally, and if they wanted me to keep working with him.

 

As a trainer I try to find out what the horse is interested in and begin teaching off of that talent. It was not hard to find out what King was good at. He wanted to GO. He was created to GO, GO everywhere, anywhere, fast and furiously, with complete confidence. Where he was, was  where he was supposed to be. He rocked his world and everybody needed to know that.

 

This youngest was living the dream, and having a person on his back had nothing to do with it. And to boot you could not wear him out. He was going to be an awesome endurance competitor, if you could ever get on his back and point him in the right direction.

 

And so with hope of creating awareness of the existence of a human being, sneak in some relationship through  leadership, we went to doing what he did best GO. You could sneak a rope halter on his if you distracted him with an apple, but that was it.

 

So just on foot with a rope halter and the longest long line on the place we had we to work. We went in huge circles very fast in one direction and then huge circles to the other. When he realized I wasn’t going to stop his god given gift to GO, but only ask that him for a certain direction. He began to notice me some.

 

Little by little the circles got slower and small. And after about three day he realized that he could walk if he wants to. He figured out that he could go back and go sideways. And before a week was done he could go outside the arena with another horse, I riding said other horse. I ponied him with catching cattle water and fence , we went over hills and river, brush and rocks. He figured out that his gift to GO, was even better than he thought.

 

He began to look for my leadership because when we went somewhere it was awesome. He even realized that his gift to GO could made cows go. And that where he went made the cows go where he wanted them to go. All of this before I even thought about putting a saddle and myself on his back.

 

Having a relaxed relationship is what we are created to want, and the big ship we are naturally created to use is, compassion.

 

As the first thirty days came close, I was aware that most people won’t take the time I was having to take, to have a relaxed ride. Young King and I were still working on controlling speed by direction.  The smaller circle the slower the pace, until the feet “stopped on the bend”. Pulling straight back on the reigns just made his head to come up, his body tense and his feet go faster. We didn’t have a lot whow in our Go.

 

Sadly nobody had come out in a whole month to see the problems and progress that King was making. I called with in the last week of training as I always do, to give them an honest assessment of were their horse is in training and asked what they would like to do.

 

I’ve always been very straightforward with clients about their horses. After the first thirty days they can consent to more training or pay the bill and take him home. I always want make sure they are confident and have gotten their moneys worth.

 

With a bit of reluctance she agreed to letting me continue training and promised to come out and see how comfortable she and her daughter in riding him. But within an hour the phone rang and a very gruff male voice informed me that they would be out in the morning to get “that horse.”

 

(Now given the fact that they lived on this big cowboy outfit. I was expecting for some tough cowpuncher who was half horse to step out of the truck and show me how it done. )

 

I informed my training partner of the next days event, because we had a very refined system for riding king that included Tom being on another good saddle horse ride when I rode me. There were still some relationship issues and it was good to have another horse for King, and Tom for moral support,  even if it was just to call 911. If he wanted me to ride “that horse” I had no plans to ride him alone.

 

Tom and I saddled up a couple of good horses but left old King alone so that these folks could see him fresh out of the stall, and what it requires to set him up for success.

 

All three jumped out of the worn out Ford truck, and this tall, lean forty something, fellow came striding up and shuck may hand in a hard cold manner. It was one of those moments when I knew this was no church social we were about to commence with.

 

I brought old King out and began to let him drift out at his own pace with not so long line but gave him some slack to see how he was feeling. I was talking to them about letting him pick the speed me picking the direction.

I was two minutes of working with King. When this gentleman interrupted me forcefully. “we don’t need to see all that. Just get on and ride it”…

Now folks, like always say, if you can’t say it in 1500 words say the rest in part two. Hope you will come along for the rest of the story.

Leave a comment and tell them when to publish part two.

Where it starts…

Have you ever had a moment in time when you learned something that changed your existence? We may call it a moment of enlightenment, clarity, revelation or vision, something that changes the reality of being. I have had two different moments in my life time.

I’m not talking about negative situations that influence use to pull back or find “escape” or hounds our past to determine our future. Instead I’m talking about a moment of realisation that you can respond to that helps come adversity, and negative influences.

My first time rocked my world. I mean it changed my existence on this planet never to be the same. I was six years old and I learned to… RIDE A BICYCLE. I know right, it was an enlightenment that bought man and machine together and I never looked back. ( I’m not a professional cyclist, never have been, although I once rode my bike in a parade couple times. To be truthful, I have not rode a bicycle in 10 years.

It’s never really about the physical thing, but about what that knowledge allows us to experience and feel. Until that moment in time when my mind changed what my body could do, my world was very small. My world was a ten by ten foot sand box, a table with food brought to me, and a back seat of a car with windows that I couldn’t see out of.

My whole life existence was about looking down as an individual human being at little things. Even the mechanical mobility of a tricycle was inefficient and limited me to a small driveway full of cracks that I got stuck in all time with my little wheels.

Now the day when my mind convinced my body I could balance on two wheels while going forward, created for me a new vision of life . I could go places, places I never know existed. It allowed me to look up and see where I could go, and not crash into stuff. It allowed me to experience and feel a whole new universe.

This magical revelation made a huge difference in who I was and what l was capable of, as an individual human being. And truth be told, l’ve never regretted that moment of clarity. I’ve been a lot places, seen and done many thing, living a life to fullest extent of the law.

With this enlightenment my whole existence was motivated by the power of being a human individual. It shaped my education, my financial stability, my emotions gratification and even my sense of spiritual connection to the “christian god”. It all depend on my power as a human being. The ability of the mind and body to make the right choices to receive good circumstances or the responsibility of consequences of bad circumstances.

Now I intend to go much deeper on this revelation of human being power concept in blogs to come. But for now lets just say that there are many limitation and confusion about this kind of “power”, and until this path of enlightenment runs its course, I needed nothing else to function as a normal being of a human, in normal human life.

In time these limitations and the emotional stress of mental confusion, over my *choices*, began to add up and created a feeling of uselessness, worthlessness. The harder I tried the less feel of worth I felt.

In response to the many conflicting confusions with in my person. Like many people, I turned to my religion for answers from a higher power. There are many riddles to this human power. Yet the doctrine of those that claim to be talking for Him, were just speaking in even bigger riddles. I began to realize that the “christian god” of the “bible” was not really going to help much. This “christian god and his son” spent more time talking about me and my power than about His power.

My second moment of clear enlightened revelation was truly super natural. I wasn’t really searching at the time, but simply drifting with the statics quo. I know honestly that it was a spiritual awakening that did not come from my sense of reason. I had come to the end of myself in the ability to figure the riddle of life out.

This moment of reality came randomly as I read the first few chapters of God’s words . And it was simply this: This book is not about me, but in reality it is about Who my Creator is . It is about how He feels, thinks and what He does or doesn’t do. This book is not about us as individuals, but in fact about His character and nature. It is about God as a Creator and us as a whole (our humanity) of His creation.

I intend to go much deeper into the reality of this truth, but for now I will just say that it has had a profound impact on the way I view life and interact with my fellow creatures. The regular moments in time and space have greater meaning. With that reality, I realized that I am created in my Creator’s image and likeness. I am a spiritual being first. The feeling of experience and the experience of feeling, is what humanity was created for.

We can no more disconnect from feeling of spiritual existence, than we can the wind in our face, when you ride a bike. In truth our whole existence is motivated the by influences of spiritual connection with our Creator and His creation of humanity. We were created for relationship with Him and each other through the experience of feeling .