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Besides Equine Gestalt Coaching® I am also a photographer and metal artist (for lack of a better term), I design, cut, and finish metal pieces for the home and yard.

plasma cutter

The CNC plasma cutter working on a few metal pieces.

Sometimes my life becomes overwhelmed and feels out of control. Throw into that mixture a teen-aged son, that I had been my husband’s caregiver for 5 ½ years, almost three of which I had a full-time job, and my own breast cancer treatment in the last year and it could be downright chaotic.

Typically I wait until the last minute because like Charlie Brown “I work best under pressure”. Then the overwhelm sets in and I beat myself up because I didn’t start earlier, and I push to get it done.

This is not a very healthy pattern especially when I was having to take my husband to see doctors sometimes at the drop of a hat and I didn’t know when I’d be back home.

But it always seemed if I set an intention to get something done it would get done. I even managed to fit in nine Touched By A Horse® trainings without too much stress.

Because of this, I have a lot of feelings that I’m not good enough, I don’t manage my time well enough, etc.

I’m finally getting back to some of the things I love to do. Photo credit: Roderick Bloom

In our TBAH training, we do a Values exercise where we think about and write out our top 10 values. Then we think about and write down the top three “move away from” values. These are the things that cause us the most trouble in our lives.

For me, the top move away from value was overwhelm. I become overwhelmed only if I don’t step into myself and set boundaries. Sometimes those boundaries need to be for myself. I shouldn’t take on so much.

At this point in my life I don’t have the energy I did even a year ago and they tell me that I won’t have it for six months to a year if then. My body has been through surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation in the last year. I’m grieving the recent loss of my husband. I know that sometimes I need to take a step back and say “NO” to some things. But I still have a hard time doing it or I say no to something I’ve been doing and replace it with something new.

It’s time to put my foot down and say “NO” especially to me.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? What values do you need to “move away from”?

Are you like Charlie Brown?

Onward! Grieving And Summit

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Susan is a lifelong horsewoman, a Master Equine Gestaltist, an Equine Assisted PlayShop facilitator, a breast cancer survivor, a reluctant caregiver, a photographer, and a metal artist. She has a BA in Communications and works with doctors, caregivers, and patients through the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method®.