When No Dream Progress Is Dream Progress

Unfortunately, I don’t have any tangible progress to report on my dream of becoming an accomplished equestrian.  Problems seem to abound in the horsey part of my life.

The current horse-related problems is my farrier (horseshoer) who has gone MIA.  I’ve been holding out hope that he’ll reappear because he is a very good shoer.  Good, reliable farriers seem to be a difficult thing to come by.  Anyway, my trainer and I (same farrier) have come to the conclusion that he’s not going to reappear anytime soon.  So, the search for a new farrier has begun.

I suppose some explanation is needed here for our non-horsey readers:  Horses’ hooves grow just like our nails do.  Therefore, they need to be trimmed approximately every 6 weeks.  For horses who have shoes on, the shoes need to be taken off, hooves trimmed, filed, and shaped, and shoes put back on.  Nikki has shoes on his front feet.  If he doesn’t have his shoes on, his feet start to get tender and I run the risk of him going lame (i.e., limping, foot soreness, etc.).  His shoes help to protect the tender soles of his feet (just like our shoes do).  Without them, he can easily get a stone bruise from a rock in the arena.  Stone bruises can take forever to heal.  So, the most prudent course is to not work him much, riding or lunging, without shoes.  He has one shoe on but he managed to pull the other one off a few weeks ago.  We’re at a standstill – no shoes, no work, no riding, no lessons, no shows.  Difficult to become an “accomplished equestrian” in this manner.

However, I’m feeling like I’m making progress on my other dream – yep, still a secret; not ready to tell.  (Sorry!!)  Dawnda, in her post this week, talks about how to know if you’ve found your dream.  I’m pretty sure that my new dream is my “true” one because of the subtle changes I’ve seen myself make since my dream appeared before me.

I’ve been overcome by a sense of calmness.  And I think that’s showing in my daily life.  No longer am I stressing about the house being in perfect order, making lists of things to do, and then fretting when I don’t get to most of those things because I’ve spent the day spinning in anxiety over what I “should” be doing versus what I was doing.  I’m working methodically through the day, what I get done, I get done, and I’m feeling good about that.  But don’t think I’m just letting myself slack off!

I said last week that I needed to focus on being an attorney for now.  I’m doing two things on that front:

1) I’m dealing with my files every day.  Before, I’d take them out of my bag at the end of the day and throw them on the pile on the corner of my desk.  Every couple of months or so, I’d go through the pile.  That method resulting in not always being prepared for court.  Not a good thing.  Now, I can find things easily and I’m much better prepared.

2)  I’ve followed up on money that is owed to me for some work I did for another attorney.  That’s highly unusual for me; normally I won’t ask for money from anyone.  For anything.  Whether they owe it to me or not.  Period.  I hate dealing with money.

Its funny, what a dream can do for you.  I’ve noticed that a lot of my anxious habits have melted away.  I’m eating better.  My husband’s crabby moods aren’t getting to me like they used to.  I suddenly have realized what I like about my home, rather than seeing all the things I don’t like.  I’m OK with what I’m doing now and have come to believe that I’m not wasting my time, wasting my life away.

Wow, can all this motivation and calm serenity continue?

Danelle

(Danelle left 8 Women Dream in March of 2010 and is still working  on her dream is to become an accomplished equestrian)

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