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Horses have a way of showing you a different thought pattern. Joy, our little rescue thoroughbred off the race track, rescue because she was covered in rain scald, which was on a whole other level than what I had seen it before, so much so that her skin was blistering up and falling off with bleeding patches.
At the same time she was skinny and run down, we took her to the vet everyday for a week for antibiotics to help her fight the bugs that were affecting her, but despite these remedies and attention it still took a year before her skin cleared up and she didn't suffer this anymore. This was a huge time for her (only 3 years old), so one quarter of her life healing from her wounds and the neglect or abuse of the life she was born into.
The analogy that I want to draw comparisons to is the requirement for humans to tell their story of healing. Their accomplishments because of the suffering they had to endure and quite often the story that they tell themselves and others that gives them the success and accolades and healing that they think is required.
You see Joy, as we named her, a possibility to live into doesn't see it this way, she may know she has the right space to be in, we can as human beings attribute our human emotions onto her, but she is just being Joy, a horse. We see her talents as a jumper, we found out that she was just made this way. It was incredible to see, she didn't have to be healed to show this talent, it just existed.
She also does not have to focus on the pain of her past to be a great jumper, she just is. She exists in the present, the right now and her performance is for today. From one equestrian to another, I have never seen a horse so honest. She will just try her very best and she just jumps a fence. Just wow - and she won't care if we didn't see her talent, she is not worth any more or less to herself. She just is.
I remember very clearly when I bought my golden horse (the horse that I had always dreamed of, who cost ALOT of money, well 5 x more than I had ever spent on a horse for me) the breeder saying, he is just a horse in the paddock, he doesn't know what you paid for him.
As human beings, we assign value and we have expectations because of what we paid for a horse, like it is a product or a service. This value equation then seems to trip us up when we come to ourselves, we are often focused on the past to create value in the present and we may even focus on the pain that was caused in order to justify our value or reason for living or our accomplishments in the present day.
Our potential is not relevant to our past, it is not based on what we were or what happened to us, it is based on what we can be, what we are naturally talented at or what our strengths are and our commitment to explore that. Joy's potential is based on her talent as a jumper and our benefit is that we can explore what that means for us and the bonus we have as a human being wanting to do equestrian sport.
What then would Joy think of this, does she assign her value in the present against the pain that she experienced in the past? NO, she is just a horse in the paddock! Is she potentially enjoying her life better because someone found her potential in the now, absolutely yes, her life is easier and she enjoys her work. How often are we as human beings happier and in flow and enjoying life because someone allows us to experience our potential and is excited by our talents and strengths.
I am excited and blessed to be a part of having Joy in our lives and the blessings that she bestows on us and what we can do because she is a part of it. Joy of course will just be Joy in our paddock and for that, she is just a horse! (She does not need to be grateful!) she just is pure Joy!
What are your talents and strengths that are waiting to be discovered by your customers or employers? Your Point is all about helping people to build on their strengths and find joy in their lives.