As I’m gearing up for some exciting work with the horses this fall, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it feels like to really connect with your soul’s purpose.
One of the great things about working with horses is that they will let you know right away if you’re incongruent – feeling one way and acting another. For example, if you are feeling discouraged, but trying to put on a brave face, or if you’re feeling angry, but trying to act like everything is okay.
Sometimes things are not okay. And horses, like authentic human beings, want to see your real face, not your “game face.” When we step toward them, in a state of incongruence, they get spooked. Horses can read incongruence in our body language because it is the way predators approach. Imagine a hungry lion stalking in the grass, thinking, “Nothing to see here! I’m just hanging out in the tall grass (but really, I want to eat you for supper).” Horses know that incongruence is a recipe for danger.
For human beings, there is a time and a place to “fake it until you make it,” but there is also a time and place for getting really real with yourself, acknowledging your own feelings, likes and dislikes, dreams and visions for how you want to live, and what you are here on the planet to do. That’s what I call, “your soul’s purpose.”
Life doesn’t want you to wait until you feel perfect. You can end up waiting a lifetime. Life wants you to show up as you are.
Becoming congruent on the inside is the first step to connecting your actions with your vision, so that you can make a difference in the world, whether that is as a parent, in your work, or simply (!) in the way you live day to day.
When you start to line up body (actions), mind (thoughts and feelings), and spirit (your soul’s calling), it’s time to clear the runway, because you are ON your path. There is nothing more exciting than that kind of congruence, that kind of alignment.
When I am working with clients in my Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) practice, we use a technique called the “body scan” to help us reconnect with our body’s wisdom, our instinctual nature. That’s the part of us that’s like a horse, still a little wild (or a lot wild), still free. It’s our built in “truth-o-meter.” Our culture often spoon feeds us what we “should” want, or tells us what we “should” dislike, or do, or not do, and when we get overloaded with those messages, it is easy to lose touch with our inner, authentic voice.
Sometimes, we end up not even knowing, “what IS it that I really want to do with this one, wild and precious life?”
Curious and intrigued “not-knowing” is better than ho-hum complacency. Engaged wondering and deep listening is a great place to start.
If I’ve learned anything so far, it’s that our soul’s calling evolves over time, and doors open for us when we are ready to walk through, even if we feel a little scared, a little not ready.
Do you remember what that feels like?
It’s that feeling of scary-exciting where you feel a little tingly and a lot alive. Living your authentic purpose is not always comfortable. This is because growth happens on the edge of our comfort zone, and truly being alive means growing, learning, being authentic, daring to evolve.
When we become deeply congruent, when everything clicks, it is both comforting – like coming home – and exciting, like starting an amazing adventure. Life – illuminated. That’s what it means to be deeply, fully alive.
I hope you have an exciting day!
Love,
Erin
p.s. Look for information coming soon about this fall’s Equine Facilitated Learning workshop. My email is: Erin@Radiantenergyforlife.com