The Ebb

Today, this is in a movie called "Burn After Reading".
There's nothing like the real thing, but man, those mechanicals...

Side-saddle in the old days, of course, astride?? One mustn't ever!
Thanks, Paddy. Authorized by HRH herself, even. I was trying to lighten the mood of the last post. Zooom, over your heads it went.
I enjoyed the Crabby Old Man poem, and I don't feel really sad about it.

Honestly, we need the ebb. Where would we put everybody??
I accept ebb. I expect ebb. It's part of the flow, ya know.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and The Doors "The End" was playing on the radio as I drove back from an errand today. The haunted guitar riff still gives me chills. That riff got me typing.

People HATE The Ebb, they are bummed when the ebb happens, and it always, always, ALWAYS happens. Like it's a big surprise, or something. I'm not talking about, well, you know. The diseases. I want medicine working on those, thank you very much. I'm talking normal aging processes. Don't shoot me.

Our fixation on halting aging processes and surgically/painting/colouring over the aging process (aka nature) is endlessly fascinating to me. Since I was a kid, really.
Anyway.

The Ebb.
When you're training anything, including yourself, you'll hit a "high" of understanding, a rush of comprehension. That's the flow.
An hour, a day, a week, or a month later, nothing will work. NOTHING. That's the ebb. The quicker you accept that, the happier you'll be. You have not lost everything gained. I've always found that those days are just the blip to remind me of how far, how much I've accomplished, already.
For example, Flip has stopped eating shite. She still won't retrieve. I take the flow where I can get it:)
Another example, Blaze had a terror of clothing being removed. (Yeah, I'd be scared too.) I let it pass, never reacted except to laugh, and voila, Blaze is embarrassed by her old fear now. We're still working on her fears. As all training is a work in progress, I'm happy with what we've achieved so far.
Everyone has bad days, animals included. Something tickles their super senses, and we miss it, either inadvertently or vertently;)

The next day is usually better. Not always. But if you've accepted the ebb, the flow will follow. The flow is the best. I know.

I struggle with this every day. Don't we all? Okay, maybe Paris Hilton doesn't.
Isn't it better to hope for the current to continue?
If you let the ebb become a riptide...
That's when you can lose any ground you had.
It's true in real life, too, y'know.
Never fight the rip-tide.
Of course, go with the flow.

Animals feel their lives more fiercely than we do. An animal's honesty/"purity" of being has always, and will always, help my heart want to continue beating. They really aren't that complicated, which is why I feel more kin to them, than "us".
Ya know??

Animals are immediately in their lives. If their immediate life is scaring the crap out of them, we can only move on with them to the next moment. The moment will pass. It always does. You, the trainer, you have to believe that.
HP's story of Top's bad day also got this post to typing. She believed, and Top finally did too.

A horse has a very narrow memory, like the shape of his incredible head.
He remembers everything he knows, as all animals do. They always learn something new, everyday.
Animals can teach us to remember that, every day.

Lessons with GoLightly will continue once I can convince myself of the above.
Again.