Soul Matters – June 2019

I used to ride a wonderful horse named Sam. Sammy was an Arabian, which means that Sammy liked to bolt. If a bird startled him, or the wind blew, or a fly went by, he would react. He could go from standing stock still to galloping hell bent for Texas in approximately 1.6 seconds, with me on his back. It was fear on steroids.

One day, however, when Sam was a millisecond from flipping the switch, I felt myself sink down into the saddle, almost becoming one with my horse. All of a sudden, Sammy became still. He didn’t bolt. For reasons I still cannot explain, I did not react to Sam; I responded.

I was thinking about this story recently in the wake of a tsunami of anxiety that arose around a Very Serious Concern. Sick of the anxiety and looking for respite, I picked up Eckhardt Tolle’s A New Earth and was reminded, once again, of the power of NOW, of being completely in the moment. “Now” is where we access our higher self and our wisdom. “Now” is calm and responsive. Now is the antidote to anxiety.

There’s just one small problem: Being in the Now is HARD. It’s ridiculously hard, particularly when life is going sideways and things are gettin’ real. That’s when the ego—our personality and thoughts—tends to start future-tripping, freaking out, wanting to be saved, and/or curling up in a ball. The ego is a reactionary little sh@#, is what it is. It’s reactive because it’s afraid that it’s out of control which, in fact, it is.

It’s said that “ego” stands for “Edge God Out” which is not a bad summation. Put very simply, we are both human (with an ego run by fear) and divine (with a soul connected to Spirit/God).

The ego is a lot like Sammy: its normal tendency is to take your mind for an out-of-control ride. But you have the power to shift this dynamic. When you choose not to react but to breathe and sink into the Now, you give your wise, inner Self the reins. You drop out of fear and into peace. Your breath creates space, loosening the constriction of the fearful ego; from this more spacious place, direction, clarity and wisdom arise. And from there, you can respond skillfully to the situation at hand.

The next time you feel your anxiety taking you for a ride, take a deep breath and come back to right NOW, to the moment. Be completely where you are and nowhere else. Try not to indulge any thinking, just breathe and sink down. Now is always doable. You can handle this moment. And then you can meet the next moment. And that’s how you stay on top of this horse and not allow your fear/mind to gallop away with you. It’s deceptively simple, but remember: a 2,000 pound horse is controlled with very light reins.

KATE INGRAM, MA is a counselor, life transitions coach, and award-winning author who really doesn’t like being taken for a ride, unless it’s in a convertible through the wine country. To read more of her work or to get some help when life’s gettin’ real, go to katherineingram.com.