“The ancient Chinese had a saying…”Ride the horse in the direction it is going.” It was an attitude that encouraged cooperation with life, with its variables and unknown quantities, rather than trying to control the outcome in advance. It didn’t mean you merely drifted through life like a leaf in the wind… but it implied that your intention is best served by an open, attentive mind, one that is inclusive of the larger forces of life around it, whatever they may be. It also implied that you were in touch with the knowing beyond ordinary knowing…”
I may be dating myself by saying this, but the closest I’ve come to riding a horse is having my picture taken while sitting on a pony that some equine entrepreneur, camera in hand, led though the streets of my neighborhood when I was about five years old! My lack of experience notwithstanding, I recognize the wisdom of the Chinese saying quoted above. We are all on horseback, we are all riding the source and force of life whose energy courses through us whether we know it or not.
Because like a horse, life often has a mind of its own, we may find ourselves either pulling back on the reins, prodding it to move forward faster, or in other ways trying to steer things to our liking. As natural and important as it is to seize control of our lives, there is another and perhaps better strategy, one that is “inclusive of the larger forces of life.” Call it Spirit, the Universe, God, Higher/Inner Power, there is a “knowing beyond ordinary knowing” that, if we are open to it, can make our ride more enjoyable, more meaningful, and less stressful.
Trusting this force does not mean that we let go of the reins, that we “drift through life like a leaf in the wind,” but that we live according to its promptings. This implies listening deeply to our intuitions, to our conscience, to a sixth sense, and to synchronistic occurrences that can
point the way to a way of life we could never imagine.
Attuned to Soul 