A Very Special Testimonial

The ThinkItOut Books & In Touch with Animals package deal ...

"This... you have to experience to believe. I am a physician with 14 years of higher education, and 33 years of learning about life and sharing the human experience with my patients. First in 13 years of critical care medicine, and then 20 years of general internal medicine. I spent these years making things happen, and by all of the usual standards was quite successful.

It was interesting that, after all these years, I would come away with the feeling that there had to be a better, more natural way. If I only had had the time to find it. There was always the feeling of being like the proverbial "bull in the china shop" because of the very special nature and sensitivity of my patients, and the need to make decisions and get things done in caring for them. As you might imagine, I just had been pretty busy experiencing life on a daily basis to search for anything more.

A year ago I retired and began the search that most of us want to do, for what had been missing in my race through life, and found it was with me all along and was not that hard to reach.

With Becky's help, I finally am beginning to just let life happen instead of trying to force it. I am learning that things really do happen for a reason and, best of all, I am learning how to relax and laugh at myself on the inside again. I am learning to take one day at a time, and that it isn't necessary to always have a five year plan.

The first step was to read then re-read her books. The books were not bombastic, great, new "this is the only way" dissertations which turn me off; but instead short, to the point, gentle reminders of common sense, everyday approaches to learning about ourselves and our interactions with others. They were easy reading because a lot of what she was saying in them were simply reminders of things that we all know at one time, but tend to put on the back burner under the pressures of our everyday lives. All of us definitely need to be reminded of them, and be able to refer back to them every now and then when things seem to be breaking down in our lives and/or our relationships to others. (The whole world doesn't change just because you do.)

Next came watching and working with Becky and the horses, as she suggests, and learning to "listen" again with an open mind in order to begin to see things differently. There also were some pretty neat interactive discussions in which, with her help, I began to relinquished my dominant role as physician (teacher), and simply enjoy the informative exchange of ideas with another adult (Becky), as well as share experiences with other individuals seeking the same goals (in group encounters). I really was looking for a better way and, so, I needed to let go of my old arguments about how things are/were and how things should be done. Most importantly, I found that I needed to be able to drop my deeply ingrained, mostly defensive, manipulative behavior by which I had maintained control in my "previous life".

Learning to appreciate animals, especially the horses, their space, their nonverbal communication (believe me it is quite different and much more basic, honest, straight forward, and certainly less complicated than that of humans) is definitely something you need to experience. It adds another, more simple and satisfying dimension to life.  You can hardly believe the sense of humor, loyalty, gentleness, and caring that they demonstrate, until you quit expecting them to conform to your way of thinking and your expectations, and begin to understand/experience things from their point of view.

As the "higher" species, and because our lives have become considerably more complicated than that of the animals, I think perhaps a lot of us have become so involved in learning the skills of how to manipulate each other that we have forgotten how to deal with each other in a basic, honest, and straightforward manner; on both the giving and receiving end. It is truly amazing how rapidly the world becomes less complicated, more friendly, and considerably more enjoyable as you begin to apply what you can learn from the animals to your human relationships and begin to receive the same in return. Best of all is the "warm fuzzy" inside from making life simpler.

As Becky indicated would happen, and I logically should have known in the beginning, the rest (or the amount of success I will have) is up to me. However, I am continuing to learn by repetitive usage of these more positive, "I'm ok, you're ok" techniques which are rapidly becoming self reinforcing from the practical examples that have routinely begun to occur in my daily life.

It works, and life really can be more fun, thank you very much. The miracle of this whole thing is that Becky is my daughter, and it truly is amazing what you can learn from your children if you will only listen."

Glen Ruark, MD - very happily retired thanks, in large part, to Becky and her In Touch Methods™