The tragedy in Las Vegas is foremost in my mind today. It is shocking that life can change so quickly. In the midst of it all we must remember to honor ourselves and continue to work on having a healthy body, mind, and soul. If you are healthy, are you reaching out to others to help them?

How could anyone be so cruel? What reason could one have to randomly fire away at so many innocent people? What is the world coming to? These are questions we have heard this week, or that we ourselves may have asked one another. For me personally this act of violence goes against everything I’ve been taught and live by.

My first reaction was that of madness and anger. Then it changed into pain and sadness for all the souls lost for a reason we, as humans, will never understand. My third reaction was to see evil living inside a human being and wondering how much hurt this man must have had to justify such madness in his own mind. One lesson that I have learned from this is not why did it happen, but how could such a lost soul be overlooked in this world of internet and cameras. Was a plea for help missed or ignored?

Evil surrounds us, but so do the blessings. I will pray for all who are hurt and suffering because of this meaningless act, and I will be pray for all the lives saved and for the many who walked away unharmed, too. It’s easy to help spread the evil by falling prey to all the gossip of how the world is falling apart. It’s not as easy to do something to heal it and to spread peace and serenity; to offer the helping hand that someone desperately needs. Recognizing our oneness and knowing that what each of us can do is to help save one soul at a time. It might seem small, but it’s progress.

Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Real to me is love and acceptance.

A Course in Miracles talks about shifting fear to love. That when we train our minds to hear the call of god, nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Real to me is love and acceptance. Unreal is fear and worry. In a perfect world we would live in love and not fear and the destruction and madness wouldn’t exist. Of course, I have no control over others, but I do have control over my own actions. I can work on spreading love to others, friends and foe. When we practice these principles, they work. When we choose not to, they don’t.

I wish everyone could stand in the presence of a horse. A horse reads your energy. If that energy is fear, the horse may stay on alert for what you may be fearful of. If the fear is in your heart, perhaps you have a decision to make that gives you anxiety. The horse will help balance your energy and give you the opportunity to work through your thoughts and feelings. A horse will show you a way, by following you, supporting you, or not. They might show you that your decision is not really heartfelt and that you’re just talking from your head not your heart. They are compasses inside our hearts, directing us to the right journey, leading us — instead of our leading them — to a heartfelt path. Come join us in the barn and experience what it feels like to walk with a horse — not walk a horse.