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Be Here Now!

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Fritz Perls of the early days of psychotherapy became famous for one simple teaching: “Be Here Now!”

Of course, we best teach what we most need to learn, so that teaching is one that I have clung to and dragged around for 40 years. Relationships with horses have taught me the true value of living in the very present moment.

I’ve also learned that a good scare is a much better teacher than a thousand well-planned lessons.

Yesterday a dogfight broke out underneath me and my young paint colt. He’s a well-mannered four year-old, with a teenager’s mind and experience. Having a hundred and twenty-five pound Akita and a new speckled cow-dog get into a fight under the colt’s feet sent him jumping and twisting in a fury to get away from the commotion. It happened so quick that the only thing for me to do was stay in the saddle. A quick snatch at the saddle horn, a turn with the reins, and a clamp with the knees is all that kept the commotion from putting me on my butt in the dirt. Thank God I wasn’t daydreaming! When you’re riding the trail, you gotta stay in the moment. You gotta live in REAL TIME. In truth, it’s the only actual time we have.

ALL power lies in the present moment.

Even though my day might include writing a book or giving a speech or coaching a football team through a challenge course, I take the time each morning to completely live in the moment. It’s a ritual performance that has probably added years to my life.

Riding a trail in the woods is different than running a horse around in an arena. A bunny may run across the trail. A deer and her fawn leap past us to safety. A bullsnake slithers across the trail under a bush. The birds sing and time flies when you’re having fun. Horses teach us to love the moment. We love the moment so much that we think of little else. Taxes due. Grass needs mowing. Meetings, meetings, meetings. None of it matters when you’re on a horse. And, in truth, none of it matters until the moment comes to actually deal with it anyway. When we live consciously and fully in the moment, we can focus on doing our best without being distracted by doubts of the future and regrets of the past. Scout Cloud Lee Barrel Racing

The best advice my grandpa ever gave was “ride every stride, girl. You be ready for anything and everything when you’re on that horse.” That has come to be great advice for life in general.

Ride every stride!
    Live in the moment. Be ready for anything and everything.
    Relinquish attachment to the past and the future.
    Truly, by being purposefully present, we gain the greatest awareness and control of our lives and our fate.
Training our horses for the trail has taught us the power of living in the moment.

Here’s the bottom line about the power of the present. Our emotions are a reflection of our thoughts. Emotions, not thoughts, are felt in our body. To know what our mind is thinking (and if it is thinking in the present moment), we must pay attention to our body. The feelings that our body is having is closer to the truth than a thought. Basically, our problems, pains, and general cravings are products of the mind. As ole Fritz Perls used to say, “lose you mind and come to your senses.” This is what trail riding forces us to do. We are forced to lose identity with our mind and become more fully present. The more present we are, the more joy we feel. That is why I make it a daily ritual to climb up in the saddle and lay down the annoyances of the mind to simply “Be Here Now.”