I am a Broker with Keller Williams Realty. The second Thursday of every May is known as RED Day, and every Keller Williams office worldwide shuts their doors for that one day to give back to our respective communities. This year, my office chose to do our day of service at Hope Reins of Raleigh. This is a phenomenal organization dedicated to helping children who have been hurt by circumstances beyond their control. Horses are their counselors, particularly horses who have been rescued out of some of the same circumstances as the kids who attend sessions there.
I learned so much yesterday! I learned about how horses are much like humans yet also elevated over us. They are like us is that they live in communities where there are leaders, followers, and nurturers. They are far superior to us however in that they have mastered the art of just being in the moment. They don't have an agenda and if they are hanging out near you then you are accepted as part of their community. You don't have to touch them or them touch you in order to be validated.
We did an exercise where we slowly walked around and gradually integrated into where they were standing. They acknowledged our presence when we were six to eight feet away from them. We humans are so overly distracted that we do not see others or sense impending danger until things are right up on top of us in our personal space. Though horses are rather large in stature they are still considered prey animals. Because of this they are Super Hyper aware of their surroundings at all times yet they give no judgment to each singular event. They just exist for that moment at that time and it is a beautiful thing to be a part of.
That exercise took me back to a moment in 2008 when I was on an adventure tour in Costa Rica. In order to reach the section of the river where we were going whitewater tubing, we had to ride up the mountain on horseback. I was given a very spirited gelding who had a mind of his own. He kept deviating off course and just would not follow the rest of the pack. We had to cross over a stretch of rapids that I could see was about chest-high on some of the smaller horses. I almost drowned as a kid so I have a great respect for and sometimes fear of water. I was a bit scared so I had a very tight grip with my knees and on the reins of my equine guide. As we approached the rapids he kept trying to go his own way. The more I tugged on the reins the more cantankerous he became. Finally he just stopped, swung his head around and made eye contact with me. I felt the majesty of the animal and the peace of God in that moment. I lightened my grip on the reins as well as with my knees and allowed him to do his thing. He bypassed the group in the deepest part of the river, trotted on up in front, and finished leading the pack up to where we were going. Talk about just letting go and living in the moment...
Lyme's is as much a mental dis-ease as it is a physical one. It can be exhausting. When we first started looking at venues this year, I had not yet started my treatment. I had multiple symptoms of Lyme's but I had yet to really dive in and figure out what was going on. As the planning and my treatments both progressed, I often agonized over whether or not I would be able to even participate when RED Day finally rolled around. It is my absolute favorite work day of each year, so thoughts of not being able to attend an event I put so much into planning were wearing me down deeper. I finally decided to just have faith that I would be healed enough to contribute. I'm happy to say that though I didn't get to dig in the dirt or do anything physically labor-intensive yesterday, I was able to help paint the fencing for the community garden and pull some weeds in a flower bed. That singular moment of making a positive choice changed an entire day for me and will bless many kids in the future. Each moment matters, don't let them pass you by while worrying about the next one!
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