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.  ❤️