Desire, Patience, And A Horse
Recently, I'd planned to go horseback riding. I hadn't ridden in a long time. And I was really looking forward to it. But Mickey, the horse I was paired with, had something else in mind. It was clear he did not want to be ridden, and he made no bones about it when I attempted to mount him. They offered me another horse, but I refused to be paired with another. I wanted Mickey; not to ride him, just to give him what I thought he needed & wanted... some love & kindness. I hung out there for a bit, stroking him & talking to him til he seemed much more relaxed & no longer fussing. His big, beautiful eyes were melting into me. His brown, smooth hair was like happiness at the tips of my fingers. Mickey stole my heart in an instant. I got more pleasure out of that than I would've gotten if I had ridden him. I went there with the desire in my heart to ride. I left there with my heart enriched by a horse who refused to let me ride him. It might have been easy to misunderstand Mickey, to mistake him for an unpleasant, grumpy, trouble making creature. After all he was making a fuss, he was not being complaisant at all. Yeah, if I had adhered to my desire to ride, if I had been shortsighted, and had not been patient, I could've easily dismissed him as something other than what he is. All Mickey did was speak up in his own way, to say that he was unhappy with his situation & how he was being treated. He exercised his absolute right to do so. I wonder how many people have missed out on experiencing Mickey's gentleness & awesomeness due to their impatience & shortsightedness. We often misunderstand, we often fail to take the time to see passed what appears to be, and look at what really is. When we do that, we miss out, we lose an opportunity to have an enriching experience.
Yesterday I went back to the stables, and paid Mickey a visit. I learned that Mickey was treated horribly by his previous owner. And his current owners have been working hard to give him a better life. I also learned that the day I first met Mickey was the first day, since he arrived at his new home quite a few months ago, that they attempted to have him ridden by someone unknown to him. It breaks my heart when animals are abused. Mickey still needs more time & lots more TLC. Mickey is really just like every one of us. We all need to be respected, to be shown love & kindness, to connect with others who take the time to show us that they really care.
Btw Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) introduced Animal Rights to the world. He (PBUH) rocks for many reasons, and that is definitely one of them.
