Keep Your Ass In The Saddle

I remind myself often to ‘keep my ass in the saddle.’ What does keep your ass in the saddle mean? Well, I use it as a metaphor for staying centered and present. As anyone who has ridden a horse knows, if you don’t sit solidly and squarely in your seat, the ride can be uncomfortable as well as unsafe. I find the same to be right in life. When you allow your life to careen off the road, you often find yourself in the ditch.

Fear

We all have those things that we allow to pull us off center. For some it is living in the past, for others, it is jealousy or feelings of unworthiness. For me, it was fear with the focal element being money. I grew up on a farm. Farming is a no guarantees vocation. Mother Nature plays a starring role in the success or not of your hard work and endeavors to make a living. Money was always tight in our family, and this worried me as a young child. Old, stubborn habits that don’t serve you die hard. I drug the penchant of fretting about financial matters into my adult life. Stewing as a child never improved the situation nor has it ever facilitated a constructive outcome as I have evolved through life.

I Made Fear My Friend

A few years ago, the money fear monster reared its ugly head as it had done plenty of times in the past. That day I decided to change my relationship with fear. I decided to make it my friend. Why? Because fear was my aide-memoire that I was out of alignment with my authentic self. My ass had left the saddle, and I felt unsure and unstable. Isn’t that was a friend does, remind you of who you are and assure you that you have all that you need? Now when fright taps me on the shoulder, I say thank you. Thank you for prompting me back to the present moment. Thank you for the ‘friendly’ reminder to get back in the saddle. Thank you, gracias, fist pump, cheers, for the blunt and needed urging back to gratitude.

Game Changer

My friendship with fear has been a game changer. I no longer spin my wheels focused on what I don’t have. Instead, I concentrate on all that I do have. Although it might seem peculiar to have a pal such as fear, I recommend that you consider the idea. Fear allows me to live life from my heart and not my head. And, my good friend certainly helps me ‘keep my ass in the saddle.’

Stay true and be you —

Annie