Moving On From Trauma and Pain - A Horse's View

How do animals

move forward after suffering trauma? Here is one view, from a horse named Reese, that may provide a useful tool for us two-leggeds:

“Humans should not make snap judgments out of their fear. They need to take the time to see how things unfold. Patience is not something they are taught. Nothing is what it seems to be, and people give up and walk away before they see the whole picture or allow things to change more to their liking.

“Once humans get hurt—any kind of hurt—they carry the pain like a chain around their necks and pull it tight to hold themselves back in fear. They give up the desire to try; they grow hard and turn into everything they fear most when they see it in others. You have to know that things mend and heal, even your heart. Never say ‘never again’; it makes you think and become old too fast. Never give up the desire to try. Don’t give up on what you love, even on the search for love.

“Animals work hard at not letting their pasts and their hurts define them, otherwise we would have given up on humans long ago. We always hope for and imagine the best. You must stay flexible, and allow life and the future to flow towards you and bring you gifts. Take care of your hearts: cry when you need to cry and let it out so the pain doesn’t stay in you, fester and grow worse.

“Picture yourself on a path where all your dreams await you in the distance. Imagine all good things there, everything you desire and find beautiful. Walk slowly, step by step, heading there every day. This is how to let go and move on. Don’t put yourselves in mental cages; ask yourselves if what you’re thinking is really true or not. You must catch your own minds in the process of deluding you. Only then can you be free.”