One thing I’ve always been honest about on this blog, is the number of things that go wrong – fairly regularly! I also usually wait to share the story until I’ve come out the other side, and have some clarity about what happened and why. Today I’ve got a new story, but I’d also like to share with you my protocol, my SOP (standard operating procedure), for when the shit hits the fan.
SO… I jackknifed my horse trailer backing it up (after spending a couple of hours getting Kaliah loaded into the trailer) and busted through the passenger side of my rear window.
Glass everywhere, and I spent the rest of the day filing my insurance claim, cleaning up, cancelling my trip, and getting the window taped up at the auto body shop so the electrics wouldn’t get damaged by rain.
So what meaning/message do I assign to events like this? If everything in my universe is happening by me, for me, then where do I put something like this?
For me, it starts with trust. That everything happens for a reason… Sometimes because the universe/divine/my higher self has a better plan.
Sometimes because I am carrying an energy pattern or belief that is causing this, or attracting this (can also be karmic). So this may be a signpost for me, to lean in and do my work in this aspect. That’s where a technique like Lazer Tapping comes in real handy:
(tapping on the karate chop point on the fleshy outside of the hand)
Even though I’ve totally screwed up
I don’t know why this has happened to me
I don’t know the meaning of this
I don’t know the purpose
How am I involved in creating this?
What could I have done differently to avoid this?
Nonetheless, I choose to deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway…
I’m taking those emotions and beginning to run them through my energy meridians. Instead of contracting or armouring, I’m going into the pain and putting everything into flow – for healing, understanding, release, and enlightenment.
Lazer Tapping and journalling are always key practices for me to be able to lean in and gain a better understanding of what’s really happening. I can’t heal it or transform it until I know what it is!
The other important element at play, is resilience. As our world becomes more and more chaotic, we are collectively realizing the illusions of safety we have hidden behind. As more becomes unknown and unstable, the best way to not devolve into fear, is to cultivate resilience. Actively cultivate and develop resilience.
So at the very least, this is yet another opportunity to practice and strengthen the muscles of my resilience! Do I become emotionally volatile and reactive? Do I attack or blame others? Or do I take the time to really sit with my emotions as they arise – guilt, anger, shame, frustration etc. – and allow them to be wholly felt throughout my body and move through me, rather than suppressing and being unconsciously reactive or defensive? Do I choose to trust myself that my heart and body can handle my emotions? That it is safe to feel – I will not crumple into a pool of anxiety and hopelessness, but by supporting myself to go deeper, I will become wiser and more reliable to myself. I’ve got myself, we will rise again, we will figure it out.
Do I take the time to breathe? To sit in silence and ground myself and connect into my deeper wisdom. Do I choose to face difficult truths within myself, or to have difficult conversations that need to be had?
I had shot a livestream with Kaliah, Aude and Zorra the day before this attempted trip up to the ranch. At that point, it looked like Aude was the one ready to go, and all the signs were looking good. The energy was feeling good.
The morning of my attempt, Aude had come into the arena first and we’d done about 45 minutes of trailer practice – with her coming half in the trailer and backing out again calmly, numerous times.
However, Kaliah had also wanted to go in there and was looking on with great interest:
But Aude either could not, or would not, take those final two steps and get fully on. I asked her if she wanted to wear a halter and she said yes. So I haltered her and immediately felt we should go for a walk, she moved off happily with me as we circled the ring road around the barn. As the trailer came back into view, I saw that Kaliah had gone up to the trailer. So I called out to my barn helper Natalie, to go ahead and see if Kaliah wanted to get in. She did indeed and then I walked over and calmly closed the doors as Natalie slipped out.
I drove the trailer out onto the road and down the hill to the turn-around area. As I was backing up and turning the trailer around, I jacknifed the tongue of the trailer (gooseneck) into my rear window. How were we going to drive 7 hours at high speeds, possibly through rain or hail, with a shattered window spewing glass shards? Kaliah was restless and kicking a bit inside the trailer.
I called my husband Ian to meet me near our house with duct tape, but when he saw the damage he said it would be crazy to attempt the journey and if rain got in, I could damage the electrics (my truck has an electric rear slider window). Add that to the fact that I had only slept a few hours – I decided he was right and we needed to abort mission. Bless him, Ian drove the rig back to the barn and backed it up to the front pasture gate, so we could easily unload Kaliah back in with her mates.
Natalie (one of my barn helpers) had been pushing hard for us to just tape it up and go – not just because we had a horse on board, but because she really wanted to go to the ranch!
I felt so bad telling Natalie I was not going to go the ranch this week. When I phoned her, she panicked a bit, then tried to see if her grandpa wanted to drive up with her in his car, but he couldn’t find anyone to take care of his cats, so then she gave up. She then rallied later and decided she would drive up alone in her car (even though she was worried it couldn’t handle the logging road).
Natalie will tell you herself that she doesn’t do well when plans change suddenly. But here she was, pivoting on a dime, and then doing something she was scared of – but that would make her world bigger. Now that’s resilience! And how are things going without me there? Here’s my text convo with Natalie after the first day:
So just in case you need this in future, here’s what I do when things go south…
Jini’s Shit-Show Protocol
1. Give yourself the time and space to actually feel everything that you’re feeling, including the super negative stuff and the confusion and the guilt and every other emotion or aspect that arises connected to your current situation or state of being.
2. Use a variety of methods to gather more information about your situation and possible options that might exist, that you don’t know about yet. Do tons of research on the Internet. Talk to people you trust. Ask for a dream for guidance. Use oracle or medicine cards and ask for guidance. Try to find stories or books written by people who have reached a similar crisis, or crossroads point in their life, and take in their stories.
3. Give yourself permission to admit you may have made a mistake. Own where you are feeling bad or guilty about your decisions or actions. Stop trying to make excuses or justify your position or situation. Giving yourself permission to say, “I fucked up,” or “These are all the things I didn’t realize, and so I made the wrong decision,” is incredibly powerful. Give yourself permission to feel like a loser, to feel useless, to feel completely lost and alone. Recognize that acknowledging and feeling these states is what enables you to ultimately move through them… you will not be stuck here! Do not be afraid of your own feelings and judgments.
Write them down or verbalize them or just allow them to exist and own them within a framework of compassion for yourself. Even the most successful people on this planet have made multiple mistakes and multiple sub-optimal choices… why should you be any different?
4. Journal about all your realizations, emotions, and options. Or talk to a trusted friend, or record a voice memo to yourself. Whichever method helps you organize and gain clarity and peace in your process.
5. Throw your intention out to the universe to open a third alternative. This is the solution that has never been thought of before. This is the option that never existed before, but that is the alternative to the current either/or scenario in front of you. Every day affirm this intention and be on the lookout for it to arrive. Also recognize that you may not have the entire solution laid out in front of you, but simply the very next step. Often with complex situations the only thing that must be known is the very next step. Because after you action that thing, maybe three more possibilities open up. But until you action that very next step, nothing else can open up before you.
6. Sometimes there is nothing to be done, or actioned, other than to just accept what happened and glean the lessons from your learning curve. You can choose to have a life full of mistakes, or you can choose to have a life full of learning curves that contribute to the expansion of your capabilities, wisdom and efficiency. You get to choose the frame for your snapshot of this current life experience. You get to choose the stories you tell yourself about your journey.
Every shit show is an opportunity for growth; of awareness and resilience at the very least. I choose not to get stuck in guilt, blame, drama, reactivity, negativity… but to feel the feels, and allow my emotions and this event to be an opportunity for my growth and expansion.
Everything that occurs is either already on the pathway to my highest good, or can be transformed into my highest good. This concept is present in many of our religions, for example: “All things work together for good for those that love the Lord.” Namaste 🙏🏽
Jini Patel Thompson is a natural health writer and Lazer Tapping instructor. She began riding at age 2 in Kenya, and got her first horse at age 8 in Alberta, and so continues a life-long journey and love affair with these amazing creatures.
Something similair happened for me. A few weeks ago.
Only this was brutal man force. Forcing his way into the car I sat in.
(never in this life, have I experience such anger towards me and me
being the calmness of the sea, – lake).
I can sence the feeling of guilt, that what happened to/for you was a ripple reflect.
This could be? / is linked to Johnny Depp – Amber Heard trial.
Heard, hear, hear me aso…
….
I’m grateful for all you share Jini and I’m so happy for the herd being gathered on the ranch.
Namaste.
So interesting Tove – so what happened after he forced his way in but you remained calm? Did your energy change/direct the dynamic?
I thought where is this coming from, is this? this is going out there.
I remained in this calm state, next to what I later on could feel a state of chock.
Surreal feeling to it all really. After he broke the side window some of his tension were released.
Part/s of me changed after this meeting.
Clarety came to me also and, ….I will not spend energy on thinking, should and shouldn’t and I could have written my thoughts down on paper(not me to do)
Processing as I can best.
Hi Tove, take a look at this post… wondering if this tapping session will be helpful to you at this time:
https://blog.listentoyourgut.com/how-to-increase-feelings-of-safety-resilience/
Sending you hugs and holding space xo
So thoughtful of you Jini. Thank you. Good reminder yes and great technik which I have worked with. ~ breath in taking time to be in this moment.
So powerful image with these three mares that decided to stay on the longest at this beautiful place. Maybe these three are the most linked to you out of the magnificent eleven? The black and the white and the red, they are alchemical color symbols for birth, growth and fulfillment or completion I believe. And the black, the white and the red woman are also archaic images of the female individuation. Must be a reason of great depth this powerful trio is so closely linked to you ☯️
LOVE these observations Sofia! I too find it fascinating to try and discern why the horses make the choices they do… the whole trailer loading process is like a dance. Will be interesting to see the pattern/formation they chose to go to the ranch… I can’t see all 3 going together. So either 2, and then 1 will be alone for a few days. Or??
A lot to resonate with here! As usual! I do believe everything happens for a reason and that you have to sit and absorb the trials and tribulations that unfold in life! Dreamers founder in 2018 has changed my whole life for the better and I believe is having a huge ripple affect outward to the souls around me!
I have also recently been very involved with trailer loading especially with Buckaroo. I felt we both had made such huge progress that I took him with a friend and her horse (who Buck adores) for a trail ride…but when we arrived Buck was soaked to the bone with sweat and had also pooped a lot! We had a great trail ride and he feels and seems very content with trail riding. But when we went to reload him for the short trip back home he refused to get back in! So we loaded his buddy first and that seemed to help but he would not commit with the back 2 feet …So I unfortunately resulted to pressure but that just makes him shut down and refuse even harder! A lady we had never met came back from her trail ride and we chatted with her for five or 10 minutes taking all pressure off of Buckaroo and when we were resumed trying he jumped right in! So I completely understand the open heart chakra that needs to take place and letting go of all expectation!
I felt very bad about the pressure that had been put on him and especially because of the past with Bullet and the huge mistake I had made with him in regards to trailering and I had told myself I would never repeat again ….but because Buckaroo had made so much progress I really thought he would be OK?
So two days later we tried with no expectations and he loaded without any hesitation and we just spent some time in the trailer meditating! Then two days after that he loaded again with no hesitation and so I decided to take him around the block and chanted a mantra to myself and to him of how brave and how calm and how relaxed the both of us can be…even making little songs! When we were about halfway around the 5 mile block I noticed the gas was a little low in the truck and so I decided when I got home to pull into our fuel tank and then try and unload him there and see if he would reload since that is a different place than I’ve ever tried to load him before. My husband was home and close by so he pumped the gas while Buckaroo and I walked around a bit and when he was done pumping the gas I asked Buckaroo to get in and he jumped right in with no hesitation again …so it’s definitely been a huge eye-opener …once again …that it all comes back to me! I mean I feel Buckaroo has had issues with the trailer before we came together but I can definitely do more to support him and I will do so going forward! In all honesty I thought I had been …because we were practicing a few times a week with no expectations lots of meditation scratches and even some food here and there and in between loading and unloading… but when it came down to it I got frustrated impatient and my expectations went through the roof.
I appreciate this post a lot and look forward to hearing about big mama and Kaliyah since I have just seen today that Miss Zorra made it! ✌🏼💚🐴
Oh Michelle, your story illustrates perfectly why/how trailer loading with formerly traumatized, or wild horses is a Masterclass!
It’s hard to describe to people just how challenging it is – you need to have one foot in the physical world and giving the physical horse everything it needs. AND one foot in the spiritual world, communicating energetically and aligning your own energy and nervous system. You have to run BOTH at the same time and if you screw up… not gonna happen!
This latest trip with Zorra – I tried to load two horses, thinking we could just turn around and come back and get the remaining horse. But NOPE. Spiritual horse wisdom had a different plan. Of course, it’s only in hindsight that I understand the plan, and why it’s a better plan than mine!
Because we only took Zo, we put her in the pole barn with Montaro – which is EXACTLY where she needed to go, and what he needed to support his healing! The original King & Queen reunited. I would like to tell you what’s been happening with Montaro, but as per usual with this herd, it is primarily energetic/spiritual. And not only is it still in process, but there are people involved whose story needs to be protected – at this time.
But know that he is right where he needs/wants to be. His energy and spirit are strong and sure. And when these processes are complete, he will back in with his herd at full vigor 🙂
p.s. If you want to know more, ask him 🙂