I learned two very good lessons the past 24 hours, and these are to stay focused exclusively on the positive and to focus exclusively on the task at hand. It does no good to do otherwise. Yesterday in my dispatch, I focused on negatives – at the time it made me feel good to write out what I was thinking, but it did not change the bad situations.

Focusing on negatives/obsessing about this, that, or the other eats up time that otherwise can be spent on getting good things done. And yes, there are only so many hours in the day. A case in point: A really amazing thing is happening. A few days ago I again requested to be a member of the Icelandic Horse Quarterly Magazine committee. I was subsequently

Ryder is focused

forwarded an article by Carla Buchmiller, who is both a Centered Riding Instructor and works with Icelandic horses and their riders.

I critiqued the article and said to Quarterly editor Nancy Marie Brown that I will write an article and also includes a list of names of Centered Riding instructors who work with Icelandic horse riders. She said that she thought this was a good idea. I then sent Marie Westlake, who is the Centered Riding office manager and administrative assistant an email asking her to send out a message to all Centered Riding members, asking for contact information, for inclusion in my article.

The responses that I got shortly thereafter blew me out of the water. I heard from Centered Riding Instructors from all over the word, Norway, Germany, Canada, Austria, and Sweden included. And in short order.

Pete helped me make a spread sheet and put the names in it. And I am putting the messages from these twenty-or so individuals in a single folder. My plans are now twofold: I’m going to use the Internet and get the Icelandic horse people connected. And I am going to write up a survey and get more information. There is going to be at least one article in this.

Doing these things bodes well for me because perhaps someday I’ll be able to travel overseas and meet some of these individuals. How cool would this be? I would learn so much.

My mantra, if I should have to use one is going to be stay focused, stay focused, stay focused. My goodness, it does have a nice ring to it.

Next: 77. 3/18/17: What will this Day Bring?