Good Morning,
We've all faced a time when things don't go our way. I'm currently facing a situation that is out of my control leading up to my weekend competition. It forces me to reflect on all of the times that I've coached clients through "letting it go" and "what can we learn". Those are hard words to hear when we've spent so much time and effort preparing for competition.
Earlier last week my pony was showing signs of being sore on one of his front limbs, so I gave him a couple of days to rest and recover. I put him back to work over the weekend only to find a completely lame pony who was uncomfortable and unhappy. I've spent this week trying to encourage rest and healing.... but it doesn't look good for my competition weekend. It's INCREDIBLY frustrating to have to let this one go, but it's the only thing to do.
When we face something we can not change, whether it ruins our plans or makes our plans more difficult, we must practice letting it go. It is very easy to let something we can't control ruin everything we've worked so hard for, but it doesn't have to happen! In competition (and preparation) we face various types of pressure. Internal pressure is what we place on ourselves and because we create this pressure, it's the pressure we can best impact and change. External pressure, on the other hand, are the things that impact us but that we can not change. Expectations from and of others, weather conditions, injuries and traffic jams are all examples of things that we can not change. We all have let one of these types of pressure infiltrate our minds and take over; we've all tried to change them, to no avail. The very best thing we can do is acknowledge the pressure, ask ourselves if there is anything we can do about it, move on and (this is key) NOT let that experience sour our future. This mindset takes patience and practice and the best time to start working on it is NOW. Don't allow yourself to become upset in a traffic jam. Let the comments and opinions of others roll off your back. If rest is the best choice for the day, don't fret about missing a training session. Tomorrow is a new day... don't ever forget that.
Until Next Time,
Lindy