Chip away

Y’all, we gotta stop this comparison game.  I’m seeing it more and more.  I’m just as guilty - I remind myself that it’s the “thief of joy,” because trust me…it is.

But I just keep hearing people grumble.  And maybe it’s more than comparison.  It feels more like we sit here and try to make everyone think we’ve gotten shorted.  That life hasn’t been fair to us like it has been to everyone else. We are wandering around with a chip on our shoulder.

You started your cattle operation with barley two pennies to rub together?  That is such a wonderful story of tenacity and grit.

You hung on to a 4 generation ranching operation that you bought year by year from your parents?  I love hearing about a generational operations and pure desire to keep something going because it’s in your blood.  What a story of dedication and sacrifice.

You chose to leave the family farm, you just wanted to do something different?  I am so proud of you for blazing your own trail.  That’s brave.  It’s hard to break tradition and set out on your own.

But, bless your heart, if you can’t be happy for people that have it different than you.  Just because someone was born into a legacy of ranching doesn’t mean they have a silver spoon in their mouth.  And if you are the starting foundation of an operation you are not getting the short end of a stick.  So stop thinking like that.  Let the chip off your shoulder go.

We are all in this industry together, trying to make a living feeding raising beef cattle or giving someone else the opportunity to live out their passion of being in agriculture.  How we got here looks different for each of us.

Jealously is hard.  I know it.  But how much easier would it be to celebrate each other rather than spend energy and time complaining about what we don’t have and what we think someone does have?

Just be happy for your neighbor.  ❤️

Stop building.

It’s not about the life you build.  It’s about being with people that mean something to you.

All the success in a job, all the notoriety, all the cool things, the new build house with the latest trends in decor - none of those are building a life. Not even the cute family pics with everyone’s smiling face or the staged holiday photos with piles of presents and a well decorated tree.  Nope not building, no matter how many “likes” they get. (And, no, I’m not saying stop the family pictures or any social media posts. I love a good pic.)

I used to think that’s what building a life was too.

But it’s not.

Building a life really isn’t about building or accumulating anything.  It’s about living.  It’s about making memories that last.  It’s about genuinely loving our people hard.  It’s about making mistakes, picking back up the pieces and still loving everyone through it. Even the people making the mistakes..because we all make them. It’s about loss and change and grief.  But it’s not about building a life.  It’s about living a life.

Sometimes we think we are living but really, we are just biding time.  Coasting by, letting life happen to us. We tell ourselves things are good enough.  That we don’t have it that bad.  But if life is about living - happiness matters.  We might have grown personally or professionally and we need a change.  We might be angry that life isn’t what it used to be, because of family circumstances, health or financial changes.

And truly, that’s when the going gets tough.

Prayer, strong friendships and solid tough love decisions.  Those are what make a life.  Not building things.