I was headed out to Montana to help a Crow family round up 400 head of cattle. 

I had been wanting a big ole’ paint horse, so I called my friend Rod and asked him to get me one for the roundup.  I wanted a big ole’ gentle mount who would be solid and steady. When I met the horse, Sedona was head shy.  Obviously someone had beat on him unnecessarily.  I was glad to give him a different experience.

    Our first day out gave me two important pieces of information.  First of all, there were bear in the Little Big Horn, and secondly, Sedona was as steady as a freight train.  Both of these facts proved important on the fifth day of our ride.  Sedona and I were riding at the back of the herd as we headed down the draw to our base camp.  As is typical of cows, one ole’ gal cut from the herd and headed up to an aspen grove.  We didn’t want any part of that aspen grove with the prevalence of bears, so Sedona and I raced ahead far enough to get between the cow and the grove.  We picked our way up a rock incline and lunged over the top only to land in a full on rattlesnake pit.  Vipers came up everywhere.  

    Sedona proved to be solid that day.  Unlike any other horse I’ve ever known, Sedona froze solid.  So did the snakes.  With the gentleness of a lamb, Sedona stepped out of that pit in very slow motion.  I had melted into him in an act of surrender that far out weighed any salvation experience at an altar.  Wherever he went, I would follow!  When his tail cleared that pit, he tucked and sprinted away from life threatening danger.  In that moment, I owed him my life.  I bought him and hauled him back to Oklahoma where he lived out his days as ‘"The Professor" of our young colts.  Though he’s now gone, his bridle still hangs in place in the barn with his picture above it.  On that day long ago, my intention to have a solid, steady horse quite literally saved my life.

   Intent programs the outcome, while focus programs the quality of the ride. 

I recently experienced being a cast mate on the CBS show, Survivor.  While I can never write about that experience, I can share my strong intent to be selected out of 250,000 applicants.  At the time I was cast, I was 59 years old and had just had an artificial knee replacement.  I was then, and continue to be, the only person living in Oklahoma ever cast in the show. I was 20 to 40 years older than all the other cast mates.  However, I knew in my heart of hearts that I was perfect for the show.  I completely intended to be selected.  So much so that I dropped all caffeine, sugar, and most carbs and began loading up on protein.  I joined a gym to get in overall shape and visited a tanning salon to prep my skin for five weeks on a beach somewhere.  My every action was designed to make me ready for the show, even though I had not yet been selected.  When asked if I was surprised to be selected, I responded “I would have been surprised to not be selected.”  My intention was that strong.  

    Thirty plus years ago I was a graduate student at the University of Georgia.  Lee Trevino, the golfer, had written a small booklet entitled “How To Be Successful.”  He suggested that we outline five simple life goals and put them on the refrigerator and the bathroom mirror.  I outlined the following goals that I still have today:
   1)  Get a Doctorate Degree  
   2)  Write a Book   
   3)  Run in the Olympics  
   4)  Be Happily Married  
   5) Learn the Art of Having a Gracious Heart (It’s good to put at least one goal in that will take a lifetime to master!)   

    Many years passed.  I got a doctorate, wrote many books, and enjoyed a wonderful personal life.  However, I had let a broken heart prevent me from going to the Olympic trials in Atlanta for the Olympics in Germany.  I kept my list and resigned myself by saying that I would fly to Munich as an old woman and run the 100 meters at the coliseum. 

    One morning a DHL truck pulled up at our barns.  UPS and FedEx were regulars on The Ranch, but never DHL.  The driver had a certified letter for me.  It began with these words, “Dr. Scout Cloud Lee, You have been selected to carry the Olympic Torch in the 2002 Winter Olympic Torch Relay...” I burst into tears.  It had been over 30 years since I intended to run in the Olympics.  While the nature of the run was different, and the distance longer than the anticipated 100 meters, the involvement and thrill was just the same.  No one will ever know that power of that quarter mile run up the hill toward the Capital in Oklahoma City.  For me it was the glorious manifestation of knowing my intention before taking the ride.  It took thirty plus years to manifest, but manifest it did. 

This is the power of intention.

Know Your Intention Before Taking the Ride © copyright Scout Cloud Lee. For more information about Scout Cloud Lee visit www.gatherinsight.com or click here to email to email your question.