I just finished a one day clinic for 33 teachers who work at a local charter school here in North Carolina. They contacted me because they were interested in attending a leadership clinic. Who could ask for a better teacher than a horse to educate us on the topic of leadership? My horses were brilliant stars that were definitely up for the task at hand. Sometimes we find it hard to separate leadership from relationship and connection because they are all interwoven. As we began the clinic, I asked the teachers to reflect upon a series of questions. I asked them to think about their relationship to the teaching profession. Did they go into their chosen field because they enjoy interacting with children? Do they teach merely for the sake of earning a paycheck? I rather doubted this possibility since teachers are quite underpaid. Did they choose the teaching profession because they have children of their own and want to be on a similar schedule? Were they still teaching because they are nearing retirement age? What attracted them to the field of teaching in the first place? I asked these questions because the answers reflect what they take into their classrooms. The reasons behind what we do have everything to do with the effect that we will have!

When my husband and I first married, we lived in Mexico. After we moved to North Carolina, I decided to go back to school in the hope of finding a better job. Since I was not a great student, I was looking for a “quick fix”. I wanted to get the quickest degree in a field which offered the most job availability with the best possible pay. Thus, I graduated two years later with a degree in computer science and immediately got a job at Duke Power Company. Boy was I in over my head! I was surrounded by computer geeks who soared while I took work home and studied at night just to keep up. After about two years, I left this position with the realization that this was not the job for me.

My true gift in life is the connection I share with animals and the special love that I feel for horses. In my focus on connection with a horse, I use communication skills and body language to put me in a flow during training that is simply magical. Throughout the process I feel energized, never tiring, because I am working with natural forces and feel fully supported in the moment. In other words, I am “in the flow” or “in the zone” of life itself. This is how you truly know you are doing your life’s work. It makes you feel alive! I find it hard “not to teach” or “not to train” whenever I have an opportunity to do so. Working with horses allows me to feel connected to the Divine Energy that is always present. In my role as a teacher and a leader, I am blessed to have the opportunity to enhance, empower, enlighten and inspire others to feel the magic they can experience with their horses and I am able to provide them with the tools to do so. The joy of doing what you love is infectious and has the added benefit of “rubbing off on” everyone around you!

Have a great rest of the week and allow yourself to be caught up in the flow of the magic moments always present in your life too!

Linda

Being in the Flow