By: Deb Kitchenmaster
Happy Blessed New Year, Athens Now! Today I am a voice of encouragement, “PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE.” For you see, it is the very nature of what is involved with the action of ‘preparation’ that answers the question of whether we are strategic or reactionary.
Preparation for a 9,000 mile tour was underway with a friend who lived in Canada and was coming into the United States on an ‘Awaken Life Tour.’ We had been introduced to each other a couple of decades earlier, when my daughter and he (Brian) were classmates attending Christ for the Nations in Dallas, Texas. He was now married, blessed with two beautiful daughters, and a ‘rapper’ — encouraging people of all ages.
As perfect, unfailing love was tapping out unforced rhythms for each mile of this tour, our presence, our home, and our horses became part of the preparedness. Their first visit was after they left Arkansas, and their second visit was when they returned from Florida. Each time we enjoyed horse activities. At that time, their youngest daughter (age 9) appeared to be a confident, enthusiastic horse lover with some understanding and limited experiences with horses. Groundwork was a new experience and reading a horse’s body language was an entirely novel way of connecting with a horse from her mindset. In the round pen, I witnessed a ‘shift’ in this outgoing, almost demanding personality into a respectful listening leader, willing and attentive to receive feedback from her horse. Confidence is being willing to try, becoming sure of what you’re doing, learning from your mistakes, and functioning with an absence of fear. Confidence grows as you show up again and again. Demanding is replaced with leading; it‘s a process.
As you can imagine, the preparation that was required to tour 9,000 miles took time, focus, and communication. It’s very much like the preparation that takes place when you’re connecting a human with a horse. When you’re traveling that distance, you want to set yourself up for success. Check tires, oil, and fluids in your motor home; clothing; food and water for the journey. When connecting with a horse, you want to set your horse and yourself up for success by doing the following three things:
· Learn how to read your horse properly. The ears, swishing of the tail, eyes, head set, and nostrils are telling you a story. Pay attention.
· Know how to respond to your horse. Is my horse scared or defiant? Do I apply pressure or do I gently touch in an affirming way?
· Utilize equine psychology, as it is an important tool. Simply put, is my horse responding to me because I am making him or because the horse wants to?
What about you? Do you realize there is a preparation involved in learning? Ninety percent of people quit their goals before ever achieving them because of not liking what they ‘feel.’ Many people “want it” but few people “get it.” It’s not about them or the program; it’s a lack of understanding how we learn. We ALL have a comfort zone. It’s a zone where we feel normal and neutral because there aren’t any challenges, and we are comfortable. However, all learning occurs outside the zone. It’s my responsibility to step outside my comfort zone, and when I do, to pay attention to what I am sensing in my body,
emotions, and surroundings. I have to ask myself, “What am I doing?” or “What is going on?” or “What am I to learn?” Become aware, awake, and alert of YOU?
Out of all the names that could have been given to identify the Holy Spirit (the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead), one of the names given is COMFORTER. Father Love knew there would be times where we would become uncomfortable. He sent the Holy Spirit.
Receive comfort from the Holy Spirit as you step out of your comfort zone onto the ground of learning.
The young girl is now a young woman working with horses and youth in Canada.
Your NEIGHbor,
By: Deb Kitchenmaster
January 3, 2025
