Count Your Blessings -- Every Day

Thanksgiving is a time that calls us to think about all that we are thankful for in our lives.  Counting down to Thanksgiving, I have seen a number of friends posting one thing each day for which they are thankful -- which I think is a very cool thing to do.

In this hurry up kind of world we live in these days, it is easy to get caught up in the business of living, bemoan the stress and everything that is wrong in our lives and in the world and forget that we have so much to be thankful for.  Counting our blessings is a way for us to put things in perspective -- something that we need to be doing daily and not just once a year.  I am guilty of that as well and so I am taking stock of my many blessings today and, on River's behalf, listing hers as well....

River's Gratitude List:

- All the hay I can eat
- Pasture-mates that all get along together and look out for each other
- Love and attention from the humans in my life (and there are lots of them) -- including my horse-loving friends, my farrier, and my vets
- Yummy horsey snacks
- Medicines to make my hooves better and to keep me healthy
-.....and did I mention food?

Maynette's Gratitude List:

- Good health
- Family, friends, and co-workers who I care for deeply and they for me
- Pets, both large and small
- A good job which engages my mind and contributes to a larger cause
- A Free Nation to live in where I can write a blog like this and express my views

Wishing each of you a gratitude filled day, not just today, but every day.

Learn As If You Were to Live Forever

The title of my post comes from a larger quote from Gandhi:  "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

So often people equate learning with a formal educational setting, but the opportunity to learn, to grasp a new concept or skill, or to become more knowledgeable on a subject is all around us every minute of every day.  We just need to be open to the experience.

I have always enjoyed learning new things.  I  love history, though I am no history major.  My favorite historical periods include  Ancient History and the Tudor Dynasty, so I started reading books on the subject and found some entertaining free podcasts online to listen to while I was driving.

After rediscovering my love of horseback riding a few years ago, I have been soaking up all things horse-related.  I have watched videos and read books.  Being at a barn with a group of horse enthusiasts, you can't help but learn new things all the time -- not to mention from your riding instructor, veterinarian, and farrier!

I also have rediscovered my love of doing arts and crafts.  I have had an opportunity to work on painting -- horses, of course -- tried some sewing (yes, that costume -- more on that in another post), played with porcelain clay to make jewelry, and have rediscovered my childhood macramé skills.  It is a wonderful opportunity to exercise the artistic side of my brain and relieve stress!

And of course, in my work, I continue to take expand my knowledge.

Learning is a holistic experience -- it develops the whole person.  It feeds your brain and it feeds your soul.  It connects you to others and to those subjects that you are passionate about.  A leader, positional or situational, is always learning and always open to learning new things in order to grow and become more effective.

What do you want to learn?  What are you passionate about?  So many wonderful opportunities to learn out there -- enjoy the process.

 

Celebrating Milestones

The vet was out to see River again the other day.  River's exercise has been limited during her recovery and so she has lost muscle tone; and keeping weight on her has been a problem as we don't want to up her sugar intake.  After evaluating her trot and looking at her feet, the vet gave River and I the green light to start a concerted reconditioning process, starting with alternating 30 seconds of trotting with one minute of walking over a twenty minute period.  Over the next weeks, we will slowly increasing the length of the sessions and the trotting time.  This is another HUGE milestone in River's recovery; one I thought might not be achievable.  Of course, how River responds to the reconditioning process will be critical.  If she continues to do well,  this will break the chicken or egg cycle that I referred to in a previous post -- exercise will improve her overall physical well-being and also improve blood flow to her hooves.  I will continue to have to monitor River closely as she stands a good chance of developing laminitis again, but getting her back into fighting shape will definitely help the situation.

Later in the afternoon after the vet had left, I saddle up River and we went out in the arena. For the requisite twenty minutes, we warmed up and then did walk-trot transitions, alternating with stretches.  I was happy to be riding her for more than five minutes at a time, and she was happy too  -- as evidenced by her "relaxed" snort she gave periodically.

As River gets back into shape, I am as well.  Riding is a primary source of exercise for me, and since my riding has been limited these many months, I have lost a lot of my muscle tone and aerobic conditioning.  I just need to remember for the both of us not to overdo it!   Neither one of us are spring chickens anymore : )

A lot of my blog posts have been about patience.  The milestone that River and I are celebrating shows that patience pays off.  And all the milestones along the way -- they are meant to be celebrated!  My celebration of this milestone was actually getting to ride River for an extended length of time and River got to celebrate with some extra treats.  We all have long term goals we are working toward and we need to celebrate the smaller milestones or victories along the way to our end goal.  Think of ways that you can celebrate along the way to your goal.  Remember, enjoy the journey along the way to your destination.  Cheers!