Learning to count..

Lately I have been really working on my patience, at home, at the barn and in business. I would like to say that this virtuous attitude is due to some new found enlightenment but in actual fact, ALL the chaos going on around left me NO choice! First off, puppies are cute. Sawyer is cute. Crate training a puppy is NOT so cute. Dealing with Sawyer's very vocal, very loud, response to being crated was the spark that led to what I like to now refer to as, the Power of 300. Taking a deep breath and counting to ten was not adequate in drowning out the lil guys screams for release AND/OR calming my nerves BUT I soon realized that giving him 5 minutes OR counting out the full 300 seconds did. In the middle of the night it may only take counting to 148 for both Sawyer and I to get to a calm place. Mind you at 4 in the morning sometimes it took me five minutes to count up to 148. With my new zen-like success, I tried this technique out at the barn with the trainers, other riders and even with Clarke on occasion, and it worked! So I then tried it in business and in my personal interactions. No matter what the annoyance, confusion or stress, I was able to stop, collect my thoughts and act appropriately. It also is quite funny to see the reaction on peoples faces when you basically freeze and start counting in your head for five minutes. NOTE: I have learned that in certain situations it is best if you excuse yourself and count quietly somewhere private- brings the concerned looks and the 'is he losing his mind' comments to a minimum. So I challenge you (my 1 1/2 readers) to try it, when things seem to be getting out of control OR you just need a moment, give yourself the time and space to deal with it. Try counting, it is working for me.

Thought I would include a sunset pic to invoke a zen like feeling..this was taken from our house.