To Be A Tumbleweed

 

 

Last year I read two books about habits that discouraged making goals because, for many people, goals become end points. For example, a goal like, I want to lose 10 pounds for my daughter's wedding, might work, but after the wedding I might also gain them all back. 

I was thinking about it this year and I like goals. 

In fact, what if goals are just POINTS, (not end points) on a line that extends forever?

My dad once drew a line with two arrows at the end, and he said this is God; he has no beginning and no end. Then he drew a dot on the line, and he said this is you right now. Sadly, I can't remember what else he said. I was really young. But my mind did focus in on the idea of God having no beginning and no end.

My dad believed that our bodies are finite, but our spirits are created to understand, and exist, in eternity. They are eternal  and have no chronological age. While my body might be X years old, my spirit stands outside of time, and has NO AGE.

Goals, for me, are merely a looking forward, more like a "what's next" and how do I get there?

Horse Goals. 

(MORE of this! Walk it, then ride it!)

I want Tweed to TRUST me. I want him to know that wherever we go, we are a team.

Last year we attended a despooking clinic and registered for a 2 hour spot. In retrospect, I would not do that again. Perhaps, an all day clinic, but not two hours. It did not give us the time to adequately work through his fears, and quitting too early in the process set us back.

Also, last year I needed my trainer to help me keep moving forward SAFELY with Tweed because my mind and heart were pre-occupied. This year, I want to be more of an independent team. 

Another goal is to get my grandson going with horses. He's still very young, and he screams with joy when he's on their back--which is very sweet--but it stresses them out. I have a rule around here that you can only ride horses if you also help clean stalls, and he has been doing that for over a year now. He has earned his riding time, ...but I will need to find ways to make it work for both him and Foxy.

I feel like there is one more horse in our future--yet to be revealed--that will be good for the grandkids. No rush though.

Personal Goals.

(The photo I took for my online flute lesson account. That scarf I'm wearing is my old lady scarf and I LOVE it. It's a triangle scarf made of cashmere from the Banana Republic and it is so, so, so soft. I got it this year by fluke, and most days I am wrapped tight in its loving arms of magical angel kisses. Do yourself a favor and buy one before they're all gone!)

I had my first flute lesson with a super fun instructor online yesterday. She is the Flute Lady 101 on YouTube and she travels to beautiful spots, plays her flute, and gives tips. I'd never used Zoom for a lesson before, but once I worked out the snafus on my end, it worked quite well. I'm looking forward to many more lessons with Kate, which is also a goal--take lessons and be on a development program.

I don't know if I shared this, but last summer I would play my flute back and forth to the barn, and our neighbor's cows got interested and came to the fence line. It started a thing--every once in a while I'd walk over and serenade the cows at sunset. They are not a picky audience, but they don't particularly like the high notes.

I don't know how much longer I will have with Tuffy, but I plan to enjoy every minute I can with this sweet sanctuary boy. 

I look forward to my spring 2025 barn garden: new tomatoes, flowers, and probably another batch of jalapenos and habaneros. 

Snow-covered Thyme.

Of course, lots of walks! Whenever we can be outside--rain, snow, or shine--we need to be out exploring.

We have two trips planned this winter. The first one is to Arizona. We purchased plane tickets, but not a hotel/Air BnB. The plan is to wait until the last minute and see how we feel and what the weather looks like. We have five days to just be tumbleweeds and go where the wind blows us.

Perhaps, that will be my last goal for 2025--and the theme--BE A TUMBLEWEED. Tumbleweeds are being blown forward, not in an exact line, and certainly not in a predictable one, but light as a feather and freer than the birds.