Desire

Desire. A thought for the day.

I have and have had many desires in my life as I am sure many of you have. I find the dynamic nature of desires interesting and intriguing. As we learn and grow in life, as we gain wisdom with age, our desires change with our change in perspective. One can learn a lot about themselves, and others, by deciphering where certain desires come from. AHAmoment.

According to Merriam-Webster, the word desire is defined as:

  • Transitive verb: to long or hope for; to express a wish for or to; and most interestingly, to feel the loss of
  • Noun: conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment; longing; craving; formal request or petition for action; something longed or hoped for

To feel the loss of something. I found that interesting to be defined there in just that way. How can you long for something you never had? Can you feel the loss of something you never had? Can you really desire something you have never known? Is it really loss if you never actually had it to lose? I think so. That speaks to how powerful they are and how/why they drive us. I think that is part of what makes our true desires conscious.

What do you think?

I think the loss is very real. The relationship of the parent you never had. Or the child. Or the life. However, just like everything in life, there is a flip side to this coin. Not all loss is bad or negative. Loss can be good. It is, you know, part of the circle of life. Even this change averse gal can admit that. The feeling of loss is powerful in a good way when you no longer desire something that is harmful to you, for instance. Whether it is a person or a group of people or a thing or an idea. Does not matter.

I guess it is all of a piece. Maybe they are the same. The negative feeling of loss of something at first and then you grow and your perspective changes, making the loss positive in light of your changed desires.

I feel like I am quickly going down a hole into accounting.

I will confess that I have desires that I will not speak out loud, for fear of anyone experiencing the loss with me. I guess what it really boils down to is the shame that fear is creating.

I used to have a desire to be a famous horseman that other people looked to. Now, all I want to be famous from each of my horses’ perspectives. To be the best I can be for them. To be a real horseman. My perspective changed. That is something they have taught me through the grace of God.

I used to think I had it all figured out. I had a plan for my career and life. I desired certain things and I felt like I knew how to make them happen. Now, I feel like those desires are slipping away and I am discovering that I am letting them go. Has my perspective changed? I think it is changing. I am not there yet. New desires are not quite there yet. Do I feel loss? I do not know. I think in the beginning I did. Sometimes I feel lost and alone.

Does any of that make sense? Do you ever feel the same? What are your desires?

Far too much introspection for a Friday.

They are predicting rain all weekend, so here is hoping I get some ride time in. I can not complain though since the weather has been absolutely amazing.

Walk in love, dear readers, and have a great weekend. I am walking in faith trying to figure out the desires of my heart in my true self.

Too much? Oh well.

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Setting Yourself Up For Success

I read something recently about setting yourself up for success that really resonated with rawme and I figured I would share it with you. Setting yourself up for success helps you to have…success! Gold star for me! In all seriousness though, that is the key. Success leads to confidence and/or confidence leads to success. AHAmoment. It is that whole coming full circle concept that life is all about.

I have been working on my…‘resolution’ plan for the year, if you will, and how to best execute it. To be successful.

I have been pretty darn good about all the general, daily items on my list and I have even added a few things to it. Those are not overly important at present. What I want to discuss is my main ticket item, my riding related goals, and how that may help you with your big goals. Your 2017 goals. Your riding goals. Your cooking or baking goals. Your parenting goals. Your getting healthier goals. Your writing goals Your fishing goals. Your dancing goals. Anything. Your life goals.

No matter what it is that you want to accomplish, to be successful at, you have to set yourself up for it. To have some sort of execution plan or, let us be honest, more plans/adjustability/fluidity, since we all know how plans can go. Hello, life. To break it up into manageable bites and have a few benchmarks. All of this to me means preparation.

I have scoured my sources and filled my calendar with all the clinics and schooling/working equitation/dressage/SHOT shows in the general area. I am still doing some research on the clinics and thinking about who I want to take lessons from. The point for me is not what I do, it is that I do it, both my horse and I have a good, positive experience, and we learn something. To grow and never stop learning. To continue striving and searching. To always try and be better. It is the quest.

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My last time in any show ring over 5 or 6 years ago. I have done one clinic and zero lessons in that time.
I think I have landed on my plan outline that will get me prepared and set me up for success. I have not settled on specifics or looked at where things fall on the calendar, so the plan will likely change and that is OK. The first quarter of the year I am going to just focus on riding as much as I can to get us both back into shape and back in tune. Second quarter will be for lessons and making progress. I might add a show in here based on focus and progress. Third quarter will be for possible more lessons and a clinic closing with a possible show. Fourth quarter will be my rainy day quarter given it is the busiest time of year. Yikes, that feels like tomorrow!

I open the floor to you, dear readers. Do you have a better way to break the year’s plan up into acceptable bites? What is your advice for setting yourself up for success? What are your plans to set yourself up for success in your goals/resolutions, whatever they may be?

Walk in love.