How Horses and Gestalt Can Help Heal Relationships
Do you have a strained relationship? It may be with a loved one or with yourself.
For many years my marriage was this way. My expectations were high with what a marriage should be. Ours didn’t meet them.
I wanted Mike to spend more time with me and then our children. He was working hard to keep us in shelter and food.
A Moment That Changed My Perspective
Photo courtesy Richard Ohmart
There was one time that he was back later than I expected. I wanted to go out and ride. I couldn’t do that with two small children. By the time he got home, I was fuming—and I stormed out in a full-blown tantrum.
I went out and rode my horse. I was expecting to be upset when I got home. I didn’t have a plan for dinner and would have to come up with something when I got home.
When I walked in the door Mike was putting lasagna into the oven. He had gone to the store with the boys to get ingredients. He had put it together and that may have been before oven-ready lasagna, so he had to cook that as well.
I was stopped in my tracks! How could I be mad when he had covered dinner?
We had many arguments over time. He’d say he was going somewhere for a couple of hours. When he came back it had been half a day.
He would go out to bale hay in the middle of the night. Then he would sleep in.
At first, these things bothered me. Once I understood my reactions better, I didn’t react the same way.
I had learned that I often needed to ask for what I wanted. He either wouldn’t see an issue, it wasn’t an issue to him, or he wouldn’t remember.
There was a time when I told him that I wanted him to tell me he loved me every day. That didn’t happen as often as I wanted it to. I would tell him, and he’d respond in kind. I still wanted him to be first.
The Transformation Through Equine Gestalt
When I entered the Equine Gestalt training things shifted substantially. I understood more about myself. Even though I didn’t talk with him about what I was learning it helped our relationship.
Relationships are not easy.
It can be easier when you understand yourself and the other person better.
Photo by Kim Beer.
Do you have a relationship, either with yourself or someone else, that you’d like to improve? Come visit with the horses and me and see how we can help. Click the button below and let’s talk.
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Onward!
