Tip of the Week 3/18/14

ODDRemember, you don’t have to do anything. You can choose to do whatever you think is important enough to warrant your efforts. Don’t lament your responsibilities as burdensome and unavoidable. Think of the positive effects of your actions – the reasons you go to work, the reasons you keep the household running.

We all have things that we don’t particularly enjoy doing. Pensive manSometimes we can get away with out doing them, but there are always consequences if we make this choice. The trick is to consider the consequences before making the choice and be willing to live with the consequences. This is an area we work with many of our clients on.

P1050149When working with horses there are lots of little choices that are made. Do you throw the lead rope over your horse’s neck when you approach to halter them in the turn out? Do you pass in front or behind your horses while grooming? Do you keep your energy relaxed and quiet while working with your horse? All of these ‘choices’ have consequences that the client will experience in the moment. We can also really explore the idea of ‘choice’ and ‘consequences’  when we engage our clients in a ‘join up’ activity with their horse. In this activity the horse is allowed to choose between ‘joining up’ P1050004with the client or doing anything else.  We point out that this is similar to the consequences we face if we choose to do things our own way when our parents/employers/spouse wants us to do something else. There are consequences.

If you know a child, teen or even an adult who is having a hard time making thoughtful choices and/or living with the consequences of their choices, we may be able to help.  Give us a call or send an email to schedule a visit. We will introduce you to our wonderful horses, learn more about the challenges you are dealing with and share how we may be able to help.

Interviews on life satisfaction levels found that those who expressed a sense of autonomy, of making decisions for themselves, were three times more likely to feel satisfied than those who did not.       Fisher 1995

This entry was posted in ADHD, Anxiety Disorders, Children's issues, Depression, Eating Disorders, Mental Health, OCD, ODD, PTSD, Teens. Bookmark the permalink.

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