{Horse Wisdom} Good Enough

Some of you know our family is on a new journey of being owned by four horses. One of the reasons I agreed to this craziness is because I knew the horses would have so much wisdom to teach us, they are such amazing animals with huge energy, and lots of wisdom. I knew our family would have something special to share together and become even closer. So I will be sharing some occasional lessons they are teaching me. Did I say I (we) have no horse experience at all? So what that means for sure is they are "schooling" me in all sorts of ways. This week my horse driver taught me the lesson of:

Good Enough

Generally speaking horses naturally "know what to do", but when the humans get involved they are looking to us for direction. If we don't give them good directions (or in my case good enough) they will try to take the lead whether you want them do or not. They will do their own thing, and see what they can get away with. So when I was working on the ground with my horse and my trainer, I "corrected" him on something and my trainer said "wow you are a perfectionist." And to be honest since I have no idea what I am doing, I really didn't know I was expecting perfection. Truthfully, I was expecting "good enough", not from him but from me. But it got me thinking and wondering how often I unconsciously move into perfection mode, when good enough is good enough. How high am I setting expectations for myself and others?

When I actually got on the horse to ride I was far from perfect in handling the reigns, getting Driver to turn when I wanted him to turn (he can be a little stubborn), giving him the signals to turn just a moment before I wanted him to, instead of letting him stop and then trying to get him to turn (which is way more difficult by the way). Which also was a life lesson, it is much more difficult to gracefully change directions when you are at a complete stop, then when you already have movement and momentum.

So as I kept working with him, I was getting the hang of it, and he was responding the way I wanted him to. I was not perfect, I was "good enough", and what I came to realize if you can get the results you want from "good enough" rather than waiting for perfection, you and whatever it is that you are trying to build momentum with can only get better, but you have to have:

Movement, Momentum, and Energy

So what I came to realize that when we let perfection paralyze us to the point where there is no movement, or allow it take over our energy to the point where it is fragmented and disjointed we lose emotional connection to whatever or whoever we are trying to connect with and build some momentum with. But when we relax into "good enough" we get both movement and aligned connected energy, we build moment, and we get results, and over time we grow, we get better, we get excellent. With Driver I realized if he was doing well, with my "good enough" that I was actually expending a lot less energy and still getting a result, and that we were staying connected and as a result as the evening went on we got in a groove and we were flowing. AND, I was able to anticipate his movements, the turns, the curves, and as in life the Divine Detours and handle them with grace. Because when you have momentum a change in direction is much more fluid.

So this week loves, I ask you where in your life are you striving for perfection and have lost connection to the "thing" you are trying to make perfect. Where can you loosen the reigns and ALLOW good enough in order to have some momentum? Where are you able to let go, allow, and be in more ease and grace, trusting in yourself and in the results, when you just relax a little?