Leading a Horse to Water Doesn't Mean it Will Drink!

How frustrating is it to give solid advice to someone who says they need it [want it] but they refuse to actually take it? I'm faced with this on a daily basis, and the frustration only builds on top of itself! I know I've had many friends come to me with their life struggles, trials, and tribulations in search for the ultimate guidance. But sometimes I find that people like to hear themselves talk or even worse hand you an invitation to their pity party, because we all know one's a lonely number, and misery loves company!

Others constantly go in circles with the same issues, stuck in a revolving door of sorts. For me, and many others I know, it's difficult to see close friends and family in this position. Especially when you know the appropriated changes one can make to ensure a better quality of life. From the outside looking in, it can be so easy to diagnose the problem and suggest, what we feel, as an obvious solution. But, many people get caught up in their own term oil so deeply they are literally convinced they are nearly permanently stuck there with no outlet or evidence of light at the end of the tunnel.

This can be based on a number of different things, from a snowball of hardships, to an extreme pessimist. Regardless, I know I'm guilty of taking on others problems as if they were my own, to the point where I start to feel responsible for their unhappiness because I'm so aware of what they need to do to change their current situation or outlook. That is the wrong way to look at things. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to give others advice or guidance it doesn't mean they will actually put the work into taking it. People can hear what you are saying but they themselves have to fully arrived at a decision or a solution before they can start to act on it and incorporate it into their lives. Inevitably this causes a ripple effect of evolution and change that can assist in turning their circumstance around, but it is only effective once they have accepted the effort it will take.

So, yes, although we can lead a horse to water doesn't mean we can make it drink, they have to want to quench their own thirst, and although as horse owners we want the horse to hydrate themselves with a serious passion, our want won't out weigh their efforts or lack there of. So don't feel responsible if the horse drops dead from dehydration [ha, ok that was a harsh analogy but you get what I mean].