Have You Really Lived?

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years" ~ Abraham Lincoln

 

Have you really lived? If tomorrow your time here was over, would your life be fulfilled? I've been thinking about how I would answer this question. Everyone should ask themselves this question because it really puts life in perspective. To answer this question, you must ask yourself so many other questions...

Have you ever held your newborn child? Have you ever lost someone you loved and didn't get to say goodbye? Have you ever fallen in love and had your heart completely broken? Have you ever had a child depending on you to always be there for them, no matter what? Have you ever brought food and clothing to a homeless person? Have you ever taken in and sheltered an abandoned or injured animal? Have you ever been someone's best friend? Have you ever sat down and really listened to stories from your elders? Have you ever seen the sun rise and set from the top of a mountain? Have you ever watched an animal mother her young? Have you ever gone skinny dipping? Have you ever run barefoot in the snow? Have you ever ran away only to realize you ran away from the only place on earth you want to be? Have you ever let yourself fly...in a fast car, in a boat, on a motorcycle, on the back of a horse? Have you ever wrote a song, a poem, a story...have you painted a picture? Have you ever almost fallen out of bed because your kids and dog are sleeping with you? Have you ever watched a fire until it burned out? Have you ever called your mom and/or dad just to tell them you love them? Have you ever thanked God and really meant it?

My answer is yes to all of the above.

The elf on the shelf is fun to hear about this time of year, he's cute. But this is what life is really about and this time of year is about celebration of life . So please take a moment, what would you ask yourself?

 

Deirdre McDonald is my guest blogger today and she wrote a very touching note about being truly alive!  Sometimes we do it just because we just are so alive!!! And that being so alive causes our heart to bust right out, come out into the open and be seen by others. Thank you for sharing your heart today!  Please feel free to comment on what your heart is feeling today!

Barefoot or Shoes on a horse...yet another opinion!

I have been trimming my own horses (at the height of the season last year, 16-18 head) for probably about 23 years now.  I have done some schooling for hoof trimming and shoeing some years ago.  I do a trim from the front style, of trimming, that takes very little off the bottom of the feet.  If I had horses in rocky conditions, I would shoe or boot to protect the hoof.  In Florida it is mostly sand and mud and relatively easier on the bare hoof.  I had 3 horses in shoes for hunt season in the 2012-2013 season, due to overly wet conditions in South Florida.  My horses including my TB (the breed is know for a thin wall, under-run heels, shelly, chipped-up, and thin soled bad feet),  foxhunt, barrel race, and trail ride, barefoot in addition to lessons.  I keep them barefoot when I can and if I have to, due to stone bruising or abcesses, they get shoes.  I transition them back to barefoot after hunt season is over.  I prefer barefoot if possible, as when a shoe gets sucked off in mud, it makes the horse virtually unusable and they have to walk in.  Last year all the shoes stayed on.  This is because I had Brian Street do my shoes last year, and they stayed on wonderfully.  If I was applying the shoes, they would only last 3 weeks. :)

This foot belonged to the Peruvian Paso that was at our barn.  Not perfect and I am sure you could pick it apart but I like the shape and the concavity of the sole.  This horse was always sound and never stone bruised or abcessed the entire time he was at my barn.