Lessons from the Universe

I like to think that generally I’m a pretty positive person. I’m happy, I enjoy life, I do what I love every day, and I surround myself with loving, kind, and supportive people. Well last weekend took me to the limits of Positive Town.

Last Saturday it was a balmy negative ten degrees here in the town of Sennett with a strong westerly breeze. But despite the cold I was feeling pretty good about life because on Wednesday I sold my horse, Labatt, and the folks were on their way to pick him up. I was sad to see Labatt go but the woman buying him was a great person and I knew He’d have a wonderful new home.

So they pull in to the driveway at noon. For the first hour I was pretty kind and patient while trying to coax Labatt to step up onto the ramp and onto the trailer. He never did get on but he did eat a whole scoop of grain, a five pound bag of carrots, a packet of peppermints, and a box of horse cookies while his hooves remained firmly planted just outside the horse trailer. For the next hour I tried several other tricks of the trade trying to convince Labatt that the trailer was not a horse eating monster. Now I was starting to get REALLY cold and REALLY frustrated. I was now beginning to think that I wasn’t going to be so sad to see him leave. I just wanted him to get on the trailer! I finally had to use a life line. I phoned a friend. Rick.

He was in the middle of watching the SU game and lives 45 minutes away but he was there in half an hour.  Thank you universe! Rick tried a few of the same things I tried and still no luck. Rick took the lead line at Labatt’s head and I stood behind Labatt, pushing at his rump to prompt him forward.  Well that didn’t work either. Labatt fired back with his hind legs and kicked my arm. Now I was frozen and in a lot of pain. And Labatt stood quietly in the barn isle, nowhere near the horse trailer. Blasted universe! It had now been over an hour since Rick had arrived and we were both at the end of our lines. Finally Rick looked at me as I felt tears starting to burn my eyes and said, “Let’s try blindfolding him.?” I merely nodded because I thought if I spoke my voice would crack and I’d burst into tears.

Rick tied his winter coat over Labatt’s head. I took the line and told him, “You just have trust me, buddy. Follow my voice.?” I chatted with the horse and he walked right onto the trailer. Three and a half hours later. His new owners thanked me and left, Rick hopped in his car and left, and I stood there alone in the cold barn with a bruised arm and a broken heart and sobbed. I went to bed that night determined that Sunday would be a better day.

When I got up I headed down to the barn and got to work. Well the day started with my tractor breaking. That afternoon I had some people coming in from out of town to look at another horse that’s for sale so I got the horse all cleaned up and cleaned my saddle and bridle. And they never came and never called me. Yet I was still determined to remain in
a positive mindset. A dear friend had invited me over for dinner that night. Perfect, I’ll just get to eat and relax and be warm and cozy! I climb into my truck to head over there and what happens? Well let me tell you. My driver’s side windshield wiper falls off of my truck. I mean, really universe, was that necessary?

So I guess the only thing to do about this mess of a weekend was to learn from it, right? So here’s how I’m going to look at what happened and what I’ve learned:

1. Good friends are more than just good friends when they’ll help you even when SU is playing (and winning).
2. Express gratitude for the fact that I even have a tractor, broken or otherwise.
3. That the horse and my saddle and bridle needed to be cleaned anyway, so   that wasn’t a waste of time.
4. Getting kicked by my horse didn’t hurt nearly as much as saying goodbye to him.
5. We are often blindfolded in life and don’t know where we’re going but there’s usually some voice that we trust and follow anyway.
6. Sometimes your windshield wiper just falls off your truck for no apparent reason and the only logical thing to do at that point is to laugh.

Claire Affleck
Claire Affleck Training website
Email me