They say that youth is wasted on the young, and in many ways I have to agree. The young are bursting with health, vitality, and enthusiasm ... all traits that they seem to take for granted with nary a second thought.Those of us with a few years under our belt (not to mention a few colt-training "incidents") view such carefree physical exuberance with a bit of envy. We think to ourselves, "If only I had that much energy ... if only I so easily stacked 50 hay bales while barely breaking a sweat!" The "if onlys" could go on forever ... our bodies do not.
A Young Brain Stuck in a Questionable Bod
Lately I've been pondering the strange juxtaposition in which I find myself: I seem strangely ensnared between the mental callowness of youth and the lesser physical fitness of age. Mentally and emotionally, I am the same crazy impatient cowgirl I have always been--forever chomping on the bit that "things" are not getting done fast enough; colts are not progressing well enough under my care; my roping training is lagging somewhere between "sucky" and pre-novice.
And while my mental and emotional state currently reflect the that of a seven-year-old, my physical state shows every year of my almost four decades of physical exertion. Starting with swimming, gymnastics, and progressing to horseback riding along with a passion for starting raunchy colts, my body is feeling, well, just plain tired. I look at the horse's hooves and think, "Uggh, they really need to be trimmed but am I really up for this?" I look at the foxtail in my pasture (see the pic for an example of this gnarly weed!) and know I need to pull them out ... but some days I don't seem to have the physical reserves to get out there and do it ... right now!
Nike's famous "Just do it!" slogan just ain't doing it for this zen cowgirl anymore. I can no longer rely on sheer physical force to just do it.
Zen Cowgirl and Time Travel
So this zen cowgirl is off on a new time-travel adventure. My goal? To draw my seven-year-old mental and emotional state toward my thirty-something body. Hopefully both sides of me will meet somewhere in the middle.
It's gonna be a challenge. How will I do it? I have a few clues but no definite ideas. The clues involve taking the mind-bending and emotionally-relaxing supplement Eleviv, which keeps me somewhat sane despite my schizophrenic age split, as well as realizing that the world is a little messed up right now, all the way around. That means I'm crazy but I'm not alone. Somehow that's comforting in the wee hours of the night (which it is right now). It's not much but it's a place to start ...
Stay tuned for more crazy experiments in zen cowgirl time travel! And puleeze let me know if you have any great ideas!
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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/genbug/3558085102/
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