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The Power of State and Purpose

“Just Change Your State”

 

It sounds as easy as “just put another hat on” or “put on that coat instead of this one”.

But moving from one state into another doesn’t always work that smooth. Judgement of the state we want to leave binds us even more to it so that the next best state seems soooo far away. Even a little change feels unreachable.

State is everything and I discovered this earlier with my horses. The funny thing is that until I heard about Horses Know The Way Home, I don’t think I realized I could choose my state at will. I think most of the time I happened to be in a state and most of the time, that state served what I was about to do. If the state did not serve me or did not feel good, well, than … so be it. I’d either let time go by and deal with it or – if I had the luxury to do so – I would do something else and by taking that action my state would change along the way and I would feel better. Can you relate?

Now, on our weekly walks in the forest with Kylian and Brenda Lee, Brian often reminds me of changing my state by choice. It is something I want to learn and so he motivates me to practice. Even though I understand what he is telling me, it usually feels like faking a state and by doing so just lying to myself. Lying because internally I don’t feel that state at all! So last weekend’s adventure came in handy to explore some more about my state of being and brought an interesting “A-Ha” moment …

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A little over a week ago, Kylian got his first pair of shoes. The reason for shoes in his case is that he had developed a crack in his right front foot over the last few months. With the first trimming since he and I arrived together in the US, we saw that there was a risk for bacteria to enter the white line. Now that the warmer weather has arrived he got a shoe on that foot with some protective polyester to fill up the crack while his hoof grows. And, for the non-horse people amongst our readers: with one shoe, there always comes a second one on the opposite side to balance things out.

Kylian did great and moved along well with his first pair of shoes so we kept on walking and playing in the first week. Last Sunday though, he already lost that shoe! Even though it fit perfectly! So feeling a little surprised about it, I decided to call the farrier and start looking for the shoe. It was a relief to hear that the farrier could come the next day and it would be great if I … found the shoe. Sure, hmmmmm, where would I start? We had been on the trails in the forest, we had been out in the field and of course, there is the paddock covered with leaves. Where and when did he lose it? And, I actually planned to do something else with both Brenda Lee and Kylian so for a moment I realized I had to say “goodbye” to my Sunday morning fun … Or not?

I decided I would go on the same walk as the day before, take Kylian with me and go find the shoe. Brian said “go out and make it an adventure, this is perfect to practice your state of being because now you will really feel curious”.

And I did, I felt curious and determined to find it. So after grooming (shedding season!) Brenda Lee and Kylian, I took Kylian with me on our adventure to find his shoe.

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Have you ever felt it? Those moments in which you have a purpose, you are determined, your state is clear and you feel calm, centered and connected?

Kylian and I left the pasture and I decided on a starting point for our search. Totally aware of him and of myself, I turned left and he floated right with me. I started to focus on the ground and down his nose went. Even the little bits of grass popping out of the bed of leaves didn’t seem to catch his attention … he was following my focus and for a moment I believed he knew exactly what I was looking for and he was paying attention too.

We walked up the sand dunes where we played the day before and the one where he usually hesitates a little bit to climb he just walked right up. After doing the tour twice, I stopped for a moment to decide where to go next. He waited with me, not asking for anything, until I made up my mind about our next. Off we went onto the trail. Feeling him, feeling me, focusing forward and focusing down to find that shoe. And he was with me every second, every move.

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At a certain point he looked back to make sure I knew that we were really leaving Brenda Lee now. At moments like this, we usually go into a little conversation and it is not unusual he starts jumping and bucking and running around because he’s at that edge of wanting to go back to Brenda Lee. This time it seemed so much easier to communicate back to him that that was OK but we really had to move on to find his shoe. And without any effort and with a floating rope, he walked up to me and we continued our quest together.

Even at our last straight line towards the field, he didn’t accelerate or started prancing but stayed right with me. No ups and downs in my state, no need to change state because I would feel a little upset. We moved from our curious and determined state into a state of total relaxation. I let him graze in the field while looking around for a lost shoe in the growing grass, but there we were also unsuccessful. So we walked back to the pasture and Brenda Lee – who happily greeted us – and spent another great 2 hours together.

It’s not new to feel the connection with Kylian and go out for walks like this. But it was the first time that I payed so close attention to my state and why I had been successful. I had a purpose! I had something real that mattered. And my state served me to move toward that goal. I did not feel any need to explain it or to state it to be the right state. It was pure and clear and any other emotion that came up also went away like a little wave. I noticed Kylian finding comfort in this clarity.

Recognizing Kylian’s relaxed and confident state right with me from the beginning until the end motivates me to pay closer attention to each time I am clearly in a certain state and truly take in the feeling of it.

I believe that managing my state voluntarily is definitely worth practicing, because it will serve the connection (the internal connection with myself plus the connection with who’s around me). The result of this practice is more valuable than staying stuck in judgement of the undesired state.

 

I challenge you to try it.

Pick a purpose that matters to you. Start with a small thing if “the big thing” seems too far away or not fully defined yet.

Practice the state that will serve you to move toward it.

Start your adventure today.

 

Katleen Reid

 

Learn more about your “State of Being” in the Horses Know The Way Home Academy, Series 3.  Click here to start a 14-day FREE trial today!

Power of Intention

Everything in your life is 100% up to you.
It is not the event or the circumstance in your life that determines how your life is, but rather your response to the event or circumstance, that determines how the world responds to you.

You are not the victim of your life’s events – you are the creator!
The world is responding to you.
How you think, feel and physically present yourself holds much power over the circumstances of your world.

In his book “The Success Principles” Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for The Soul series, offers this formula for success in life: E + R = O

The Events in your life plus your Response equals the Outcome.

If E = 2 and R = 5, then the Outcome = 7. (Or, 2+5=7) If you don’t like the result of 7, then the easiest way to change the Outcome is to change R (Your Response).

The power is in the Response. You have the power to change anything and everything in your life, simply by changing your response. Just by changing your response, you can alter the world’s Outcome accordingly.

How?
Your “State” and your “Story”.

State and story – story and state. It becomes a “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” scenario, where one influences the other, and vice versa.

State of Being…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s start with your “State”. Being human, you have the ability to “Be” (or become) any state you set your focus on.

You can become angry, sad, clear, confused, lost, found, present, absent, happy, joyous, etc… You can feel across the entire spectrum of human emotions, focusing toward any imaginable and desirable state.

My Fifth Grade English teacher at St. Benedicts Middle School wrote the following word on the chalkboard:

 

BEAMISAREWASWEREBEINGBEEN

She wrote it out this way so we would remember it. This one word is all of the tenses of the verb “To Be”:
To Be, I Am, She Is, They Are, He Was, They Were, She Is Being, He has Been.

It’s powerful and simple: we are human beings. We can determine our state of being by simply deciding “To Be”.

“To be, or not to be: that is the question….” – William Shakespeare

Your possible responses to the world are infinite. If you restrict yourself to only reusing the same response that has shaped your life thus far, you will live a life of “Repeat…Repeat…Repeat…” rather than “Create…Respond…Create.”

The problem with states is that they are very sticky. Once they have a hold of you it can be quite challenging to remove them, and the more you try – the more they stick.

The trick is not to fight them and to focus on the states you would rather have in the forefront of your life.
The trick is to choose a state that would support your chosen story.
The trick is to tell a better feeling story, which I will get to in a minute – but first let me give you a secret to loosening the “State’s” grip over you.

Whenever you find yourself in states of being that don’t feel good and are not working for you or anyone around you, try this: put your right index finger to the right corner of your mouth and say:

“Hmmmm…Interesting!!!”

By doing so you will be tapping into your “Personal HorsePower”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By saying or thinking,“Hmmmm…Interesting!” you automatically put yourself into a state of non-judgmental curiosity. Curiosity is the perfect “State” from which to temporarily remove yourself from the stickiness of the unsavory state that bound you. From here, you can take a step back and re-access the situation without allowing “the heat of the moment” to affect what you are reflexively about to do or say.

It is your judgement of yourself along with your connection to your “old story” that is keeping you stuck. Non-judgemental curiosity allows you to pause, breathe and move forward.

Horses (and you in your “Personal Horsepower” state) don’t judge things as good or bad, as most things in life are never a moral issue. For horses, everything is simply information to react to. Horses can’t buy into the drama of your life’s story. They have zero interest in judging you from a moral standpoint. But horses do easily place themselves into a state of non-judgemental curiosity. And through their curiosity, they are always free “To Be”.

Try this exercise: Think of a reoccurring situation where you typically feel “trapped” or “stuck”. Tap into your Personal Horsepower by saying, “Hmmmm…Interesting!” and notice the immediate freedom you’ve gained by simply breaking your typical response pattern. This offers you a different Power of Perspective, providing yourself the opportunity to create a better feeling story – a story free of judgement.

Horses have survived millions of years by being able to read the states of intention given off in the energy and body language of their predators. In order to do this successfully, they need to be free to respond appropriately to every situation as it presents itself to them. To horses, freedom and a non-judgemental awareness is a life or death issue.

This is their gift to us.

What state are you in now?
What state do you want to be in?
What’s your story?
What story do you want to be your story?

Hmmmm…Interesting!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our State of Being and Our Self-Talk make up our State and Story.

How do you want your Story “To Be”?

It is this story that feels better and better. It is this story that will bring out the best in you and will engage all of your personal horsepower.
It is the state of this story, of your natural becoming, where you are in line with your highest and greatest gifts. It is here that horses can truly connect with you. And it is in these states and stories that you connect fully with yourself.

What State and Story do you choose?
What State of Being and Self-Talk will you use to create the “You” the world will respond to?

Feel The Connection,
Brian Reid

 

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