This month has been BEAUTIFUL and devastating at the same time. I'll start with a summary of both and then we will dive deeper into the direction you take your life and the power you have in all of it. This month started out epic. We got a call from our good friend Andrea at the Zion Red Rock which if you haven't been there- YOU HAVE TO GO! They have some incredible places to stay to relax and rejuvenate. We were asked to come down and work with Alicia Keys, her kids and her amazing producer Ann and her family. It was a unique experience with people that had never been on or around a horse. To others that had never quite experienced horses in the way we share them. There were some beautiful moments and I will never forget the connections made. I LOVE empowering people no matter who they are. I love helping people get to such an amazing present state that allows them to self reflect on who they are. Our horses are incredible and we love to be able to share them with others. Chase and I LOVE to go to the Zion Red Rock Villa AND Oasis. We love to share our horses in these beautiful locations. We love to help people experience empowerment and healing. It's what we do to the core.
Coming home was the "devastating" part of our month. We got a message from one of our client's mother informing us that he had passed away unexpectedly to a seizure. We were shocked. At a loss for words and devastated. This boy was 19 years old. When we first met him he was shaking when he was very cautiously walking up to a horse of ours. He conquered SO much as we worked with him. He was trotting on horseback just 3 weeks prior to his passing. We gave him a job to help us out with horse care and we were looking forward to having him in the same workshop he completed to help teens out that were just like he used to be/feel. Those started just 4 days after he passed away.
The beautiful part of Daniel's passing, was his sweet parents wanted people to donate to HYP to build an indoor arena in order to help more youth throughout the winter time. We were shocked, humbled and grateful for people's willingness to donate to this effort. We are calling our future building the Daniel Memorial Arena. We will NEVER forget the unique, humble, hard working man he was. We will never be able to look at his horse the same. He's yours Daniel.
We had the opportunity to hire an incredible photographer Laurence Boswell to capture Tawny (his horse), so his family could remember the incredible connection he had with that horse.
This month something has flipped for me. I thought I would continue doing this for a long time. I thought I would retire Chase with our business. I thought we would build an arena, but now I know. Death is funny like that. It gives you perspective that sometimes you lose sight of. It reminds you what you want or don't want. It reminds you what is important. It helps you let go. It helps you step it up. In my case, we are charging straight ahead faster and harder than ever. We want to help more people through employment, our programs, retreats and more! We pray we continue to find the Daniel's in the world. Those that are struggling to see their self worth, power and potential. We want to help those people turn into the person Daniel became. We want to continue that legacy of beautiful transformation.
Now although this month has been both beautiful and excruciating, I choose to go up from here. It doesn't mean that I don't cry that he isn't here or miss the crap out of him when I need to feed those ridiculously heavy bales and he isn't there to help me. It just means that because of Daniel I am going to continue. Because of him I am going to keep pushing, growing, fighting and helping.
What are you going to do because of the pain? What good can come out of the trials you've experienced this month. How can you turn a trial into a triumph? I promise you can if you are willing. I am always here to chat if you are struggling to see the good.
You matter. You are worth putting time, effort and focus on.
Learn more about Daniel and the Arena we are building in his honor HERE.