Man On The Horse
October 5, 2021
In a town, people on the sidewalk noticed a horse come galloping down the road. The man on the horse seemed to be in a hurry and had somewhere important to go.
Recognizing the rider, an acquaintance on the sidewalk yelled out, “Hey friend, where are you going in such a hurry ?”
The man on the horse replied, looking back, “I don’t know. Ask the horse !!”
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says that the horse is a metaphor for our habit energy– “the relentless force of habit that pulls us along, that we are often unaware of and feel powerless to change. So we are always running.”
Personal growth depends on understanding your habit energy—the unconscious thoughts, words, and actions that litter each day. I eat too fast, drive too fast, blame too fast, talk too much, worry too much, complain too much, judge too quickly, jump to conclusions too quickly, etc.
Understanding your habit energy will give you the power to slow down and exercise control over your thoughts, words, and actions. As a result, you will take your life where you want to go instead of the horse of your habits taking you somewhere else.
