Sarahjoy Le Donner A Dieu: Letting Go

My kid’s had the palomino job for over a year now, it puts food in her tummy and gas in her dooley. It’s that job with security, the one you don’t wanna’ let go of, not because you love it, but because it pays the bills. It originally came about when Sarahjoy was building a hunter jumper training business along with a friend/partner. (For more info, see Hunter-Jumper News.) She accepted it because it was good money, very good money, but a long drive and more so, it was pride- swallowin' - - the palomino work would be training western style (cough cough, ghads!). I know ….. hey, it’s all done on a horse, what’s the big deal . . . but the similarity ends there. She’s good at training horses and the palomino and its owner sorely appreciates her. The hunter jumper sport is performed for competition over obstacles (quantities of them, at varying difficulties) consisting of raised poles, hills, ponds with the horse and rider being judged for quality and speed; whereas this palomino job is gettin' her outta' bed early for a long drive, puttin' on her wranglers, ropers, cowboy hat and ridin' . . . cowboy-like. Again, money. So, Sarahjoy had been doing this Monday job along with her then regular training position job and as quickly as any horse can buck you off to the ground, that training partnership biz abruptly ended; and Sarahjoy found herself borrowing the corner of a friend's sofa for use as a bed, using clothes for covers while the window it was located next to was cracked and broken, in the coldest days of winter. Now a job is a great job when you have no job and so in addition to doin’ that palomino job, she worked her program (narcotics anonymous) like it was ‘goin out of style,’ getting herself back to being 100% healthy and functioning; basically, she persevered and it was hard at times to remember her dream. Time has passed and she called me, today. Sarahjoy is calling her mom, as she's driving the two-hour trek, one way to that palomino job. After 17 years of riding, after almost being 3 years clean of drugs, this year saw Sarahjoy get that dream job, that dream training job and she’s been doing it well. She's finally at the place where ‘her training barn’ is filled - where her students are electric with learning and empowerment. Success at the new job is overwhelming, innumerable hours and provides her with another new experience. She says she's exhausted and I know that she is and she wants me to know she is finally ready to give the palomino owner her 2 week notice as we discuss how the loyalty and sincerity was such that the palomino horse and owner had become a gift. She tells me the palomino job fed her literally for so long, that despite she got this new position, how do you give it up something like that? Further, how do you trust that it is gonna’ be ok and leave a position where you were believed in so much, when few did. When is it safe to let go…. We enjoy the wonderfulness of this moment, my kid and I. When your dreams are being realized and not just 'in sight,' you can and should let go with much grace that western palomino horse and owner, who believed in you. Let go so that you can grasp firmly your future. Sarahjoys mom, Patti