Dr LeCrone
03-30-2006, 09:33 AM
Last week, I was talking about a horse, Old Blue, and my attempt to keep him on a trail, following a guide and my wife and daughter. Old Blue had balked and put me in the precarious position of wondering if I should force him to move forward and risk a stumble or a violent bucking that might send my tumbling off the mountain.
I waited for what seemed like a very long time and then spotted the guide, followed by my wife and daughter, coming back down the trail. Noelle, my daughter, was shouting, “Dad, come on, you’re holding up the ride, and we are having fun.”
Her idea of fun and mine were obviously different, but I still could only wait patiently for the guide, who approached Old Blue and angrily shouted at the horse. I asked the guide what I was doing wrong. He said nothing. The problem, he said, was “Old Blue wants to go back to the stables instead of carrying you up the mountain.”
The guide said he would give me his best riding whip, and I was to beat Old Blue on the flanks with whatever force it took to get him to move.
I asked if this was the procedure I would have to use throughout the entire ride. “Probably so,” he replied. I also wanted to know if Old Blue was an old horse and not up to carrying me up the steep mountain trail. I shall never forget the guide’s response. He told me Old Blue was a young horse but a lazy one, and it often took a lot of strong physical encouragement to make him cooperate.
I made a quick decision. I didn’t want to spend the next hour beating this horse so he would carry me along the scenic path. I opted to let the guide turn the horse around. The horse headed gingerly back to the stables with no encouragement from anyone.
My wife and daughter proceeded on their ride. When I got back to the stables, one of the ranch hands commented that Old Blue should be renamed “Hay burner.” He said he would gladly refund my money, which I accepted.
Since then, I have not ridden any horses and instead have confined my scenic wanderings along trails to the distance I can go on my own steam.
Now back to the parallels this experience has with everyday life. There are times when we must decide that our influence over the environment is not great enough to warrant the effort it takes to be carried along to our destination. Sometimes, however, we have to find assistance and support systems to depend on. We can apply this to everyday situations. We all know that effective management techniques include delegating responsibility to other individuals, those who are capable of carrying out certain tasks.
Research on burnout also indicates that a primary cause of burnout is not relying on support systems for help. Burnout victims believe that if a job is going to be done right, they are the only ones who can do it.
Obviously, I saw parallels between my experience with Old Blue and other areas of my life. We all need to learn more effective ways of living, including dealing with “Old Blues,” whom we hate to continually beat. We might consider switching horses and cutting our losses. There is no point in ending up with an Old Blue when there are other options available.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1987
I waited for what seemed like a very long time and then spotted the guide, followed by my wife and daughter, coming back down the trail. Noelle, my daughter, was shouting, “Dad, come on, you’re holding up the ride, and we are having fun.”
Her idea of fun and mine were obviously different, but I still could only wait patiently for the guide, who approached Old Blue and angrily shouted at the horse. I asked the guide what I was doing wrong. He said nothing. The problem, he said, was “Old Blue wants to go back to the stables instead of carrying you up the mountain.”
The guide said he would give me his best riding whip, and I was to beat Old Blue on the flanks with whatever force it took to get him to move.
I asked if this was the procedure I would have to use throughout the entire ride. “Probably so,” he replied. I also wanted to know if Old Blue was an old horse and not up to carrying me up the steep mountain trail. I shall never forget the guide’s response. He told me Old Blue was a young horse but a lazy one, and it often took a lot of strong physical encouragement to make him cooperate.
I made a quick decision. I didn’t want to spend the next hour beating this horse so he would carry me along the scenic path. I opted to let the guide turn the horse around. The horse headed gingerly back to the stables with no encouragement from anyone.
My wife and daughter proceeded on their ride. When I got back to the stables, one of the ranch hands commented that Old Blue should be renamed “Hay burner.” He said he would gladly refund my money, which I accepted.
Since then, I have not ridden any horses and instead have confined my scenic wanderings along trails to the distance I can go on my own steam.
Now back to the parallels this experience has with everyday life. There are times when we must decide that our influence over the environment is not great enough to warrant the effort it takes to be carried along to our destination. Sometimes, however, we have to find assistance and support systems to depend on. We can apply this to everyday situations. We all know that effective management techniques include delegating responsibility to other individuals, those who are capable of carrying out certain tasks.
Research on burnout also indicates that a primary cause of burnout is not relying on support systems for help. Burnout victims believe that if a job is going to be done right, they are the only ones who can do it.
Obviously, I saw parallels between my experience with Old Blue and other areas of my life. We all need to learn more effective ways of living, including dealing with “Old Blues,” whom we hate to continually beat. We might consider switching horses and cutting our losses. There is no point in ending up with an Old Blue when there are other options available.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1987