This saying hangs in the tack room where Beege lives. I've seen it every time I go in to fiddle with feed bags, brush boxes, blankets, etc. Today, however, the message struck a chord because like everyone else I struggle with balancing my time between vocation, avocation, and just being. The latter is probably the most important but gets the least amount of consideration.
My job takes up most of my time, not just working 40 hours per week but getting ready, commuting are additional time. Other demands on my time include going to the YMCA 3 times per week to maintain some level of fitness, imagined or real. Since we don't have servants, we have to clean up after ourselves (where does that clutter monster live anyway?), feed ourselves, which includes thinking about meals, shopping, and actually preparation, plus more cleaning up, doing our own laundry, making the sure the house isn't a pigsty all the time. On top of that we need adequate sleep, a little down time, plus maybe some planning or preparation for weekend fun. And the greatest responsibility of all: an Elderly Dog.
Now to the point about horses: when do I fit my two horses into my schedule? I try to get to the barn a couple evenings a week plus on weekend but I have to make sure that I haven't swam at the Y that morning because Elderly Dog has been in the house by herself all day. If there's a family or friend event during the week, that either cuts into swimming time or horse time. Horse time is also 1.5 hours round trip from home if I only visit one of them. It's two hours if I visit both. The Y is on the way to work but I probably can't swim that morning because Elderly Dog has been at home all day.
It's also ski season now so instead of spending time with horses each day on the weekend, I'm skiing at least one of the days. Speaking of seasons, there used to be a seasonality with horse sports or even just riding. It was similar to ski season or basketball season or hiking season or biking season. When it was dark and rainy we didn't ride (or hike or bicycle); we swam and played basketball or volleyball. The horses had their shoes pulled and were allowed to hang out in the pasture for the dark and rainy season, which is often November until February. Now, events are happening all year round, there are indoor arenas and lights and so many things to do no one gets a break even from the fun things. The danger is that fun things are no longer fun if it turns into a job.
People can engage in their hobbies year round. If I want to ski in the summer I can by going to New Zealand or Peru. Or even locally at Mt. Baker or Mt. Rainier to ski the glaciers. Except around April or May, I'm happy to put the skis away and dust off my bicycle, leg up the horse for summertime riding, put my YMCA membership on hold to trade swimming in chlorine for swimming outside and bicycling. My job and Elderly Dog are not seasonal; those are everyday responsibilities but to everything else there is a season, including horses. Everything I've chosen to include in my life make my life whole but no one thing is my whole life.