Destinyfeatured

I grew up riding horses barefoot and bareback in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I don’t have any pictures to document these adventures because they all occurred before the era of the iPhone, and we never carried a disposable camera in the pockets of our shorts. Thus, I have chosen this quintessential photograph of Bo Derek riding nude without a saddle.

The summer sun bronzed our shoulders, and soft horse hair coated our inner thighs. I still remember the smell of the tall grasses mixed with a meadow of wildflowers. Aspen leaves shimmered above as we wandered through fields and forests without any agenda or fear of getting lost.

I loved every second of it, including the smell of fresh manure. It sounds strange to write that, but it reminds me of what Elizabeth Gilbert wrote in Big Magic, “What is your favorite flavor of shit sandwich?”

Now if you’ve read the book, you’ll know this isn’t exactly what she meant by the phrase, but I mention it to say that even horse shit smells good to me. It mucks right alongside the question I now pass on to you, dear reader, to answer from your heart and soul, “What are you passionate enough about that you can endure the most disagreeable aspects of the work?”

For me, that’s always been horses and every facet of them. As I reflect on this, it now seems funny to me that I have spent all four decades of my life searching for purpose when, all along, it’s been right here. What is that famous Rumi saying?

You wander from room to room

Hunting for the diamond necklace

That is already around your neck!

Now, ain’t that the truth!

While I have always sensed I had a destiny with horses, I looked at them as my friends and family, not something to be extorted. Yet, here I find myself, almost forty years later, discovering that they, too, wish to be of service, to work in partnership for a greater good in some grand and harmonious way. 

I have recently come to understand, or maybe remember, that destiny is like a wildflower; it grows naturally, calmly, and blooms when the timing is ripe. Flowers do not push forth into the world; they are pulled forth, beckoned to create more beauty and pollinate joy, wonder, and reverence in all who behold them.

Life calls out from within us that which the world needs most. And when we allow the flow of loving awareness to lead rather than its clinching opposites of fear and ego, we discover ourselves living out our most essential reason for being: the fulfillment of what initially propagated us into existence. 

It is fascinating how we can see so much more than we once could when we look back on life. All the pieces come together and form an interconnected landscape of which we have always been part. 

An astrologer once told me, “It’s all about having the right key, for the right door, at the right time.” It can take patience for all our knowledge, expertise, and wisdom to sync up and take root before it flourishes as an offering and gift to the world.

I know this life isn’t my first rodeo. You may wonder: How do you know? And my answer is that I simply do. I carry within me, just as we all do, a memory bank that is always accessible here and now. 

From this universal knowing, I can confidently share that we are here on Earth to radiate the light within and be of joyful service to all. Call it “Divine Will,” “The Will of God,” or “Written in the Stars”; nevertheless, the simple and profound embodiment is in the phrase, “Love is the Answer.” And love includes all people, paths, and purpose.

Like every story, there is so much more to it. And, as Einstein said, “Time is relative.” This is also to say that wherever we stand at the moment, and from whichever infinite angle we view life, we only glimpse a part of the larger whole.

When we relax, slow down, and align our internal frame of reference with the inherent oneness of all that is, we widen, expand, and emanate a fuller vision. We not only see a bird’s eye view of life but also merge and dissolve into the remembrance that we are one. We do not need to have a near-death or life-before-Earth experience to recall that the energy of life is omnipresent and that we are simultaneously all of it occurring now. 

Okay, I’m getting a bit existential, but the point of writing this whole essay was to say that life is always guiding us, and it is true; we don’t need to do too much to find it because the treasure, the answer, and the solution are always with us, inviting us moment by moment into the unfolding. So relax, “enjoy the journey,” love yourself and others more along the way, and let anything go that isn’t a flow of light, love, and joyful service. 

“Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” 

— Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

Discover

Doorways To Wonder