Tonight we celebrated the 40th wedding anniversary of two of my favourite people / my aunt and uncle who have always been like extra parents to me.
How lucky am I to be part of this tribe, in this time, in this place? I’m so grateful for the love and the laughter, the faith and the fun. It’s pretty spectacular. It’s happiness
When I was a kid learning about horses it was always drilled into me that no matter if someone had tacked up my horse it was always my responsibility to make sure that everything was safe and in working order before I got on. It’s a lesson that has carried me through the rest of my life as well – no matter what anyone else says, or how they try to help me, at the end of the day I’m responsible for making sure things are done properly and safely for my own life.
I was tacking up Dristhi today with my western saddle. I had it all done, him bridled up, and I was just reaching for my hard hat when he spooked at a barrel that has been in the corral for weeks (but suddenly was scary) and lost his mind. As he was freaking out the strap on the saddle broke, cinch came apart, and the saddle went flying across the corral. This of course didn’t spook him at all, that is only reserved for barrels that don’t move.
All I could think was holy crap -what if that had happened when I was ON him?. I have checked that saddle on a regular basis, but I wouldn’t have checked it today. Thank goodness my guardian angel was on duty and ditched the saddle before I got on.
I switched to my English saddle – which I think he actually likes better – and off we went for what was one of the best rides we’ve had. He’s such a good guy.
It’s an odd little happiness moment, but I’m so happy that my accident happened in the safety of the corral and before I was on. It served as a good reminder to pay attention to everything I’m doing. And I was super grateful later on when my cousin did a temporary fix on my saddle and told me what I need to do to get a new strap put on.
Hard to believe that a few weeks ago this guy was being such an ass I couldn’t even work with him. Look at that cute little face.
Today at lunch I caught up with an old friend from high school. I can’t believe that next year it will be 30 years since we graduated – or that our kids are the same ages or older than we were when we met. Unbelievable
We had a great time reliving old stories and catching up on where each other was in our lives. So much has changed, and yet we are still the same people we were all those years ago.
Old friends -that’s happiness.
Today I got some things done around our house – still clearing clutter here. Then I went to the house of my cousin-in-law for lunch. We share the same insane sense of humour so it’s always a guaranteed laugh fest. We also always break it down into really serious “what’s going on with life” stuff – then back to crazy laughing. This is a valued friendship.
The day ended by seeing The House with my boy. It was hilarious and we laughed ourselves silly. There were only 3 other people in the theatre which made it almost ideal.
Happiness in many forms today. Life is good and I am grateful.
I had my first success coaching call today and my take away from the session was to stay focused on having faith that it’s possible for me to succeed.
I sometimes still have all those nasty words dancing in my head that I heard for so many years. The problem is even if I only heard them once I relayed them many more times over. I’m learning to change that broken record.
Things are changing.
I went out with a girlfriend tonight and we talked about just that (among many other things) – things are changing for both of us. And it’s ok to embrace the new normal, the good, the bad, the happy, the scary – and just be in the moment.
That is happiness
It’s been super smoky here with all the fires from BC blowing our way. It cleared a bit tonight and I took Drishti and Dottie out for a walk.
The sun was a brilliant red through the haze – beauty in the smoke.
We managed to get really close to the heron tonight. As I was trying to take a photo while I was only a few feet away I kept thinking Dad would really like this
Dad and I used to email back and forth photos of our local herons when I lived in Virginia. It was a way of making me feel close to home, so this heron holds a special place in my heart.
My bond with my horse is getting stronger all the time. We are trusting each other and relaxing into comfort together finally. He is a true miracle in my life and I’m grateful every minute for him.
We stood by the heron and had a few minutes of quiet while I thought of dad. It’s sadness but it’s happiness too.
We spent a big chunk of the day today clearing more clutter from the house – and so from our lives. Considering it was something I was pretty resistant to, I’m finding the more clutter I clear the happier I am
Not just the physical stuff, but lots of emotional clutter is being cleared as well. Awesome.
That is happiness
And a bonus happiness moment was having my sister and family show up for supper. We don’t get to see them often enough and these times are precious.
My son had to wake me up twice last night because I was having night terrors. Not just regular old nightmares, but sleep paralysis and night terrors (it was just as lovely to experience as it sounds). The after effects of a rather traumatic experience last week. The boy knew exactly what they were and shrugged and said I got those a lot last summer after I saw my dad, then went back to bed. So that was lovely to hear, and kept me awake for a good chunk of the night.
But, the nightmares don’t last in the daytime and today I made a special effort to be thankful for the good things in my life. The boy and I went to to the farmer’s market and we have enough cherries, berries, and peaches to get good and sick off of (I have no self control when it comes to cherries), we looked at displays, tried curries, and bought Indian food. It was a success.
In the spirit of continuing to de-clutter I worked on my poor, neglected vegetable garden. I’m hoping that in two more days it will look like a loved place once again.
Then I went out for a ride. If I ever need a reminder that God loves me and that he preforms miracles all I have to do is look at Drishti. He is a miracle in my life and he teaches me to love, to trust, and to not be afraid. He also just lets me be happy.
Plus, I am home, I am safe, and this is the view I get while I’m on my horse. There’s a lot to be thankful for, and that makes me happy.
I met a lady today who is also a student in the course I’m taking. Being rather introverted and socially awkward, I wasn’t sure how it would go – but it went SO much better than I could have ever anticipated. Our lives look very different, but we have walked very similar paths. It was amazing how the digger we dug the more we had in common. And she’s a fellow leftie, so you know she’s amazing.
We spent some time discussing the 10 dietary paradigms of the course and it was pretty interesting how strongly some of them had affected our lives, and how some of them we were just becoming aware enough of to realize the impact they’ve had on us.
One that we spent quite a bit of time on was the idea that nourishment is about much more than food. I struggle all the time to digest my emotions and it shows up as health issues if I don’t figure out how to do it. It’s made me live a more authentic life, and have to be more accountable, but sometimes it still surprises me how effectively I can stuff those emotions down and pretend to ignore them.
The body doesn’t lie though, eventually I pay the price and I have to stop everything and deal with it.
It was such a great happiness moment to spend the afternoon delving into a new passion with someone who is as excited as I am. I’m really looking forward to seeing how we both grow as we carry on with this course.
The kids and I did the rides at the stampede grounds today. Well, to be honest the kids did the rides and I people watched. I have never been a huge fan of the rides. Love those little donuts, don’t need the rides
But the kids loved it, and I love seeing them happy. We didn’t do the rides last year because it rained all of stampede week so it was really cool to see how those two years have made the kids excellent ride partners. They are so gutsy it amazes me.
Quality family time. These moments are precious. The boy is 16 – time is flying by. I’m honoured they want to spend so much time with me. Happiness ❤️
(The donuts were the best part in my opinion)
