Thinking Thoughts

“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Indeed. I find this happening to me nearly every time I begin a new blog entry. I ponder a point. The more I ponder, the more what I have to share feelsThingish. But once commited to paper (or website), the words look back at me in a timid sort of way, as if not quite sure they are ready for other people to read them.

I will launch out regardless, because I've been pondering peace again. Specifically, how to go about creating it. Though I have tended to resort to shifting the atmosphere by such things as quelling noise, lighting a candle to lend a golden glow, or playing something calm and classical on the CD player, I'm realizing that creating peace is not so much about enviornment as about how I choose to respond when strife, anger, worry, or fear are present.

For those that may be waiting for the horse tie-in, here it goes:

In the same manner, I have found that the best way to help Honor overcome fear or agitation is not necessarily to remove the stimulus--a short-term fix sending him the erroneous message that a fear reaction can cause scary things go away. Rather, if I remain calm and compassionate, unaffected by his fear and steady in my support of him, he finds a place of peace within himself greater than he possessed before. 

This is true with people as well (though personally I find people a whole lot more challenging than horses). At the risk of sounding simplistic--I'm seeing that it is really about love. Love disarms. It soothes, calms, and comforts. I am not very good at loving during a non-peaceful episode. But if I can tap into compassion; if I can see the person or situation from that position of care; I can extend peace toward them, and they, in turn, may choose to respond to me in like manner. But even if they do not, there is still peace within me.

Okay. That is the Thing I have been thinking about. Whether it is "Thingish" enough for anyone else to ponder is yet to be seen...