Everything was all a kerfuffle. The incessant braying of the donkeys and barking of the dog. What was going on to have everyone upset? Wait a minute – the donkeys are impatiently waiting for me to come with their feed and the dog joined in because that’s who she is.
Do you ever feel like this? Everything is happening at once and you can’t slow down to deal with it. Everyone tells you to slow down and take a breath. How do I do that when it’s coming at me all at once?
Yesterday just before I was going out to get the horses in, I heard whinnying. Not a normal occurrence. I looked out the front and only saw one of them. Then I heard one screaming as if something was terribly wrong. The one I could see was galloping toward the sound. I assumed they were all in that direction.
Worried that one of them might be hurt I got my shoes, coat, and gloves. I got the Jeep out and started toward the barn to get the halters in case I needed to catch one of them. As I pulled around, I looked and there they all stood happily grazing. They were a little farther away than normal and apparently, one of them had been left behind. Hence the screaming. So, I called them in as I put the Jeep back in the garage. I was happy to see them all come in without any cuts or scrapes.
With horses, you never know what might happen. They can be in the safest of paddocks and still get hurt. One time I went out to feed and one of my foals had a huge cut on her shoulder. We never figured out how she got it. It happened to be my son’s birthday, and I had promised him I would cook him dinner. Now I had to take this foal to the vet.
The vet could feel her scapula when he checked to see how deep the cut was. It would be a long evening. So, pizza was the birthday dinner instead of mom’s cooking.
Photo by Kim Beer.
I tend to overreact when things don’t go as planned. However, I’m good at adjusting when needed. It takes me a while to bring in the options and work out the one I want to use. Here was my thought pattern yesterday. Looks like there could be something wrong with the horses. (A bit of panic.) I’d better go check it out. (Figure out and implement a plan.) Now they all seem fine so I’ll get them in for feed. (New plan.)
Learning Gestalt has taught me how to respond instead of reacting to situations. Instead of going immediately into fight or flight mode I take a step back and decide on the best action or words.
Yes, there will still be times when someone pushes your buttons. There is nothing we can do about other’s actions. We can only choose how we respond. During the holiday season take a step back and remember this.
Then come out and let the horses show you how to respond instead of reacting. Click the button below to schedule your free exploratory Zoom.
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Onward!
