The Feeling of Being Exactly Where You Are Supposed to Be

That happened to me today, and it is wonderful.

Now, if you know me at all from here at the Straight Dope, you know that I am a horse lover who has not been able to be around these wonderful creatures for far too many years. Health, money… all working against me. I sold my last horse in 1986 and have ridden exactly twice since then. I grew apart from my horsey friends so I haven’t even been able to have much contact with them.

Every day without smelling the sweet scent of horse I have felt a little of my soul dying.

This past fall, a horse rescue opened up here in town called A Hoof and a Prayer. I went to their open house on Dec 3 and signed up to volunteer there. In the process, I met an 8 month old Appaloosa filly that I lost my heart to named Jewel. She is the sweetest little girl, rescued from slaughter. If I could afford a horse at this time, Jewel would be mine. This is me and Jewel that first meeting:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/PapSett/Hoof%20and%20a%20Prayer/21A.jpg

And this is her in the pasture:

Today was the orientation for volunteers, and of course, I was there. I spent the afternoon in Horse-Heaven, being shown around and ‘interviewed’ to see what my experience level was. When I was talking to the owner and told her how much I love Jewel, she laughed and said ‘then why are you standing here talking to me? Go play with her!’

So I did. I spent about an hour grooming her and working with her, handling her feet & ears and getting her used to being touched. My dog friend Gary went with me-his granddaughter, Haley, wants to learn how to work with horses too- and we are both going back next Saturday with Haley; he is going to help them fence a pasture and Haley and I will be grooming and cleaning stalls.

Yes, this is right where I am supposed to be and oh my god, it is such a wonderful, intoxicating feeling. No, I won’t be able to make Jewel my own, but I can help make her more adoptable. I will be working with the animals I love, helping a worthy organization and getting a little more in shape. I have not stopped grinning all evening. I am so, so tired-literally dozed off while playing Zuma earlier…but it is a GOOD tired that comes from being outside, working with a horse.

So… that’s MY right-where-I’m-supposed-to-be story. What’s yours? Where are YOU when you feel like the stars are shining just for you alone?

Papsett, that is fantastic.

I had that experience just this fall. In fact though, I have experienced it several times and maybe not been in touch with myself to realize it.

I work as a volunteer at car races and have for many, many years. At an event this fall, we had a terrible thing happen in that another volunteer had a massive heart attack and passed away. He had heart trouble before and it wasn’t entirely unexpected. But, everybody there did everything just right. It just wasn’t enough. After all, we are trained for medical emergencies that can accompany crashes.

The ambulance arrived and left with our friend and at the end of the day, the event organizer called us all together to give us the news that our friend had not survived. A prayer was said, some thoughts were shared and then we all moved on towards our shared evening activities, comments and reminiscing about our friend. The next morning, I was heading back to the volunteer task again on another beautiful day and I thought, “There is no place else I want to be, no one else I would rather be with, than these people in this place now.”

I am a lucky, lucky woman.

Yup, you get it for sure. I have felt it a few times too, but never, ever so strongly as I did today with Jewel and surrounded by people that share my love of animals, horses in particular.

I have never done drugs of any kind but this must be what being high feels like.

Well, that went well. So much for my happy, feel-good thread. Are Carnut and I the ONLY ones that have ever felt this?

shrug

We are the lucky ones.

No example comes to mind for me right now, but I am happy to hear you are involved in horse rescue. I’m sure you are going to do a lot of good for the horses. It’s very sad that such a pretty young filly could have been slaughtered. :frowning:

I would love to own a horse someday but I live in the suburbs. Volunteering with horses would be great but we’re urban enough that there aren’t any horse rescues anywhere around here.
Does your rescue have a website with more info about what they do and the horses?
You have reminded me that I really should send a donation off to the horse rescue that I heard about a few months ago that seems to be doing good work for horses in dire situations: Refuge Farms sanctuary gives free rein to hope

I’m not sure my experience is the same but I’ll share anyway.

I left my family and friends and travelled to Rome to begin a new job. I had a one way ticket and my suitcases.

The plane landed and passengers began to disembark. As I stepped out of the plane and began to walk down the steps the most amazing sensation of peace fell over me. I knew right then I was where I was meant to be.

The plane landed at 10am, by mid-day I had called all my friends and family and told them, “If you want to see me again, you will have to come here. I am never coming back.”

That was 15 years ago… :slight_smile:

I have had this experience, but can’t presently think of an example. I do have, though, places that I call ‘my happy places.’ These are places that I can go and feel extremely at peace no matter what is going on in my life. So, yes, I can understand.

I love that feeling! And I completely understand when it comes to horses - I’m currently doing weight watchers to get down to a weight where I can ride again, I haven’t ridden for fifteen years and I imagine it will be a similar feeling when it finally happens!

They don’t have an official website up yet but their FaceBook page is full of info & pictures. They are good people.

THESE are the kind of stories I was hoping for. I have battled depression for so very long and at least for this moment, I feel free. This organization is rescuing more than horses.

Having just come home from my granddaughter’s second birthday party, yes, I have felt that. The times that come to mind are right after the birth of each of my children, and the first time I held my granddaughter. And every time after that when I get to see her.

OK, so I am officially getting back into the horse scene… today I bought a pair of Brahma boots and horse treats- a 4 lb bag of horse cookies and 6 lbs of carrots. I am still giddy. I have the afternoon off and am thinking about popping in to see if anything needs doing.

>happy<

Back in the saddle again…

My horse, Bob, turns 27 next month. I’ve had him since he was 2. He’s still a spaz, just slower about it. Sunday he bolted twice with me on his back. Anyway, every so often when I mount and sit in the saddle, I get this “aaaaaaahhhhh” feeling, like everything is right in the world and I just fit where I am supposed to be and my body is perfectly aligned in the saddle and a bomb could go off and I would still be seated because it’s just perfectly right. It’s a great feeling and I’m glad I don’t get it too often otherwise it wouldn’t be special.

The rescue will love it when you pop in. It will do you, Jewel and the rescue a world of good.

I heart horses more than anything in the world.

peedin, I love horses too. If I can lose enough weight, I am willing to climb back on any equine creature willing to have me. I’ve got a ways to go though. The weight I lost last winter came back with some forced inaction and long hours at a desk.

Strangely enough, a lot of us car-racing folks also love horses.

I don’t know if I will ever be thin enough again to ride but just being around them is intoxicating to me. The old saying that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a (wo)man is so, so, so true.

This is a bit difficult to describe without all the details, but if I can capture a sliver of that day’s light, so be it.

This was The Epic Show, when everything came together to form aural and youthful perfection. Grateful Dead, RFK 1992. We were comped into a Hilton, which for the days was an oasis of absolute luxury. We got to the lot in the mid morning and spent a glorious summer day tripping and traipsing around the oceans of grass, asphalt, and colour. The day evoked the feeling you got from reading Mark Twain as a boy and was dripping with psychedelic nostalgia painted with Rockwell’s brush. Everything went right. Even when things seemed to go momentarily, irrevocably, and disastrously wrong, it turned around in a moment and the sun shown through.

The show was incredible. Steve Miller opened, a great synergy with what was to come. The Dead opened with Cold Rain and Snow, and the sky was suddenly filled with … marshmallows. We were about 100’ from stage when all around us people brought marshmallows to fill the air. There’s nothing quite like getting bonked on the side of the head with a happy, soft, and delicious marshmallow. Show continued through to a Baba O’Reily>Tomorrow Never Knows encore. I can write pages of the day and the show, but this post fits with the OP because of* the moment*.

The moment:
Can’t say exactly when, but at some point I’d turned around to gaze at the crowd. Always fun. I’d kicked the doors of perception way open earlier that day, and was musing on how this was the largest number of people I could conceive of. Not that I couldn’t imagine, say, seven million New Yorkers, but I had no tangible, perceptible grasp of such large numbers. But here were sixty to seventy thousand people all gathered in one space. There were over a hundred thousand at Giants Stadium shows. Not being a sports fan, these were the only times I could take in such a massive throng. So that and related thoughts were floating in the air when a security guard caught my eye.

Security guards—particularly at large venues—are typically a big, burly and most of all, surly lot. But what caught my eye was that this monstrously large, yellow-jacketed and sunglassed absolutely-not-a-typical-Deadhead security guard was dancing. To his right was another equally tree-trunkish and skilled-at-looking-mean guard bobbing his head to the music. Everywhere I looked, people were dancing and getting their groove on.* Everyone*.

And that’s when it hit me. As far as the eye could see, everywhere I looked, everyone was touched by bliss. Down on the field, I was bathed in the middle of it, entranced and soaked in unadulterated, pure joy. I was standing at the epicentre of joy, exactly where I should have been.

There are other categories of moments—marriage, birth of the Dudeling, etc.—that stand alone and unmatched on their pedestals. This has its own shining stage; wherever I am, I can still see the joy and happiness of those around me and appreciate the gift that is being alive.

The kids they danced and shook their bones.

What is it about horses that does this to us? Last summer, I volunteered at the IEA 3-day event in June (you should totally come - we can room together!!!), and I’ll never forget driving through the fog and coming upon this amazing scene … barns in the early morning light … the whuffle and whinny of horses waking up … the sound of hooves on the ground … and the smell of horse everywhere.

I sat in a lawn chair with a stop watch all day, which wasn’t exactly thrilling, but it was worth it for just the morning. And now you’ve made me want to volunteer at IHR.

While I am basically a western gal at heart, I will literally watch ANY type od horsemanship. Where is this 3 day event & when in June?

Calendar - USEA, United States Eventing Association, Inc. (R) US National Combined Training, Horse Trials: Dressage, Cross Country, Show Jumping | United States Eventing Association® Link to last year’s info.

IEA Three Day Event and Horse Trial, May 31 - June 3 Hoosier Horse Park (just north of Edinburgh, near Camp Atterbury).

I’m sure if you looked up the breed/style of your preference you could find plenty of shows to volunteer for.