Tuesday; August 8

I was reading through a book of wise sayings the other day and came across one that made me think, “The horse thinks one thing, and he that saddles him another.”. Now for those of you who haven’t spent much time on a farm, this may not make much sense, but for those of us who have spent much time on horseback it probably brings back troubling (if not painful) memories. How many times have you been on a horse only to realize that their ways are not your ways? We start off with a plan for the day’s activities; however, the horse often has one goal in mind – to get rid of the saddle and back to the barn as quickly as possible! There are times when we can convince them to do what we want – then there are other times when it just feels like we are fighting a losing battle with something that significantly outweighs us! On more than one occasion, I have questioned whether the horse I was riding was stupid – now I realize it wasn’t that they weren’t thinking, they were just weren’t thinking what I was thinking!
As I thought about this, I got to thinking about how many times I have criticized others for not thinking. Upon further review, could it be that they just weren’t thinking the way I was thinking? Maybe it wasn’t that people were incompetent or even rebellious – they just had a different thought in mind. I realize we can’t argue with a horse and try to convince them to do things our ways (believe me I have tried), but when we find ourselves butting heads with another person, maybe it would be a good time to stop and share what we are thinking. Who knows, when we rely on logic rather than trying to apply force, both of us might gain something as we move forward united in the same direction.
Think About It!

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