Authenticity

A few months ago, I had posted about giving up on riding horses, because every time that I tried to do that in my life, something happened to stop it. However, life is just always full of surprises.

About two months ago, Alafair told me that she wanted to start riding horses again. We are very fortunate to have a gentleman that lives about 10 miles up the road from us and has three horses. He is extremely talented and patient, and he gives us free lessons.

Alafair and I have come a long way on our Western riding skills. Both of us have enjoyed it. What leads me to this post, though, is the thought that has been coming to my mind while I've been working with my horse. It's realizing that I may be wrong even when I'm pretty certain I'm not doing anything incorrect.

Sometimes I'm convinced that I'm doing the correct things, but there are small, underlying, actions that might belie that. For instance. I know since flying airplanes that I am prone to pull to the left with my left hand. When I am riding my horse, I get a little bothered because she is always riding to the left and I keep having to navigate her to the right.

I caught myself thinking, "This horse will not walk in a straight line," instead of realizing that the habit I have of pulling to the left during airplane take-offs might be seeping into my horse riding as well. I always need to reassess my actions to take accountability for events that are happening in my life.

Today, while riding, I was very careful to keep my left hand in the centerline of my horse's neck and make sure that I wasn't giving conflicting signals. This horse that I ride is very sensitive and smart, so the slightest misalignment will lead to a struggle. That definitely applies to the people in my life, because they almost immediately know when my actions aren't aligning with my thoughts. I'll be conscious to keep reminding myself that I might be doing small things that are throwing off synchronicities in my life.