The Olympics are just days away. So many issues seem to complicate the simple intent of Olympic competition this time, but more because they are at the surface. The Olympics has been an event that often tells much more of the story of the world than just sporting endeavour. I wish everyone well in whatever they hope to creatively bring to the world through this extraordinary event. May no-one choose a destructive means.

To amplify the positive creative path, there is a great video of a man and his horses which shows the power of co-operative interaction and mutually beneficial bonding. What are relationships all about? Again we must ask ourselves about the nature of freedom. Is it about separate autonomy or interpersonal communion? Or is it some combination? There is so much to think about in this life.

Parental adoption in the animal kingdom gets a pictorial spot again. This time a great Dad comes forward. It's just like having Madonna and Angelina Jolie adopting those in need, but in an animal kind of way. Tuck into the recipe and the exercises take on a Positive Psychology angle as I'm looking at that again at the moment and it is a good process.

Add the soaking water to a saucepan with 6 cups water, 1 spring onion, ginger, star anise, mirin and tamari. Bring to the boil slowly and add the carrots and sliced shiitake (stems removed). Cook for 10-15 minutes. Add bok choy and cook a further 2 minutes. Remove ginger and star anise. Place into serving bowls and add 1 tsp chopped coriander and 1 tsp chopped shallots.

Serves 4

Mind: As you go through your usual routine try this little memory routine. Each time you do something, like put on clothing, make breakfast, gather your things for leaving, try to say the thing that you are doing. This will bring it into conscious awareness and you may feel that you have been doing some of these things on 'auto-pilot'. What has become automatic and what do you still have to think about? Interesting.

Soul: At the end of each day write down some of the things that happened during the day that you handled well and that allowed you to feel pleased with yourself and perhaps that you had learnt something. Even just 2 or 3 things will be plenty. Try to do this every day, then read it back at the end of the week.

The Animal and the Rider

The essence of the metaphor is that the animal is often quite content to follow the directions of the rider. The rider is able to see what is coming, understand the future outcomes of what they are doing and is able to plan and predict. These are very helpful things for the animal, which basically responds to the immediate, the necessary and the dominant stimulus.

Some riders begin to thing that they can dominate the animal with their superior mind and will power. This is a mistake because will power has a limited energy supply. If the animal is determined to go a certain way, the rider may dominate for a while, but as soon as will power becomes tired the animal will take over. Some riders know this and so to make sure that they remain 'the winner' they will break the animal, destroy its spirit, ignore any sense of partnership and be a dictatorship.

Sadly this is a disaster for both the animal and the rider. For the animal it is a sad loss of energy and passion. For the rider it is the loss of the very parts that make being a rider worthwhile. Can the rider and the animal truly be a team? How do you find the mechanisms of co-operation. Watch this video of about 5 minutes and then let's discuss this some more.

This is wonderful indeed, but what might it be speaking to us about? I think that what makes these images so attractive and inspiring is that they symbolise a powerful message about ourselves.

In the development of the human mind we have 2 distinct aspects - the automatic and the conscious - the animal and the rider. Inside us we have a multiple layered persona. In psychotherapy we often talk about the 'many personalities'. One of the goals of psychotherapy is to bring these personalities into a coherent unity, while still maintaining the unique energies that each element of our inner self contributes. In life, that is the purpose and benefit of challenging personal endeavour (CPE). CPE is different from stress because it is not about battling your difficulties, but seeking to discover your potentials, give them a focus and give them a relationship that rises all the way up to the rider.

This film is not only a story about an amazing man (although he certainly is). It is also a story about an amazing group of horses who choose to allow the relationship between instinctive drives and conscious vision, imagination and planning to exist, develop and produce an engaged harmonious being. The horses don't run after the man because they are planning their next performance and imagining the number of autographs they will sign. They are simply expressing a relationship of harmony, satisfaction and peace. This is the purpose of life for each of us.

The wonder of this film is that it is a pictorial invitation for us to spend time with our inner selves. It is showing us that it is by developing a relationship with ourselves and with those around us that we create a level of trust and safety that protects us from fear and disconnection. If this man-rider were to dominate and forcefully control his 'animals' then he would also be able to create a performance that people would pay for and gasp at, but it would be very different to the flowing piece of harmony that we see in the film.

That is what my book, How the 'real world' is Driving Us Crazy! is all about. We try to force ourselves by power of will to dominate and over-ride our inner power. The power of control we create, however, is nothing compared to the unbridled power of personal harmony. But personal harmony takes time, patience and love. Almost all of these things are hard to produce and maintain in the pressured competitive winner/loser world we live in. Do you think that this man has never fallen off the horses? That the horses and never gone off on their own direction and ruined the trick they were practicing? Of course. Do you think that the rider is the one that has made all the decisions as to what will be in the performance? Of course not. They have created the performance together. This rider chose to take the time to create a loving relationship with his animals. How many of us can truly say that is what we do with ourselves - be patient, kind, understanding and slowly connect our inner selves through love? ( I have purposely not said 'connect to our inner selves' because we are connected whether we like it or not. That's why, when our inner space is disturbed, the rider - consciousness - finds the going tough)

The most dramatic forms of healing today are psychosomatic and usually include some words to the effect of "I forgive myself", "I am able to love myself", "Even though I may have problems I am still a wonderful human being". I love these sorts of affirmations, but they would not be unnecessary if we lived a life where we were in a loving relationship with ourselves in the first place. That is what the Creative World is all about. Connection, integration and interaction are not the disciplines of the Creative World, they are the natural state.

The images of this rider and horses touches us because we wish we could do this, too. But we don't need to do it with outside things, although that is fantastic, too. We can do it with our wonderful and complex self simply by participating in the experience of life in a creative and engaged way. Our world has become such a messed up place that this is hard and now requires time and practice to get out of the bad habits of the winner/loser world mindset, but nothing changes if we do nothing.

Having said all that. Here's another video of horses to stir our spirits. This is a compilation of sequences from various movies that include horses as 'characters'. I hope you love it, too.

Share your thoughts and suggestions? richhill@iinet.net.au

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Looking forward to sharing more thoughts, suggestions, news and making a very Healthy Wednesday connection with you!

Take Care, Richard, Susie and The Healthy Wednesday Team