Our little nephews drove 9 hours away to rope in a big roping this weekend. They are almost 11 and 8 now I think and they rope really good for their ages but they are still learning. They are 11 AND 8. Everyone, even rock stars have room for improvement. Well, their mom would send 14 of us, each a video of their runs in a group text message and here would come the comments. After the 5th comment, the Cowboy always "removes himself from the group", which is hilarious to see come across the phone screen BTW. As I read the comments, all I could think about were the excuses everyone was making for them, including myself. "What an uneven set of cattle. What a crappy calf. Well his horse shorted him. That calf ducked right. That calf ducked left. We didn't draw very good. I think he didn't have enough horse power." Also a lot of "good job boys" but the excuses got me to thinking. What are we teaching our children with these excuses? Nothing.
We don't get to pick our draws now do we? I mean, that'd be great if we did but we don't. In life, in rodeo, in cards, the dealer just deals the cards. The only thing we are in charge of is how we play our hand.
When Colton was little, and I mean only about 4, one day, he and his brother were roping the dummy. Jake said they weren't fighting and were playing together really good but that Cooper was taking a long time to take his turn. All of a sudden, Colton said "Just rope the damn thing." (He actually said much worse and it was even funnier but a bit harsh for this blog so we will go this route.) Inappropriate for 4? Yes. Funny? Oh man so funny. Jake couldn't get mad because he agreed and Coop really needed to just hurry up and rope the damn thing.
There is a lot of truth to that statement. We don't get to pick the circumstances thrown at us. We don't get to pick how people treat us each day or the calf we have to rope. We don't get to pick our boss, our coach, our teammates, our co-workers or the people we go to church with. We can however, choose how we react to them, how we treat them and how we overcome bad situations. Sure we can find another job, join a different team, find another church. Are we sure in that case that the other people are the problem? When my oldest was playing Division 1 softball, the first year she wasn't getting a lot of playing time and she came in as an All American Athlete so that was a hard pill to swallow, She wasn't sure what she was doing there and her communication had not been the best with the head coach up until that point. She talked to us and her dad told her to go talk to the coach. He explained she needed to tell her the situation, explain her feelings and concerns, but to be ready to pack your bags and come home. It was the best thing she ever did. She hardly sat again. Sometimes we just need to have a conversation with somebody and kiddos, it's not your parents that need to do the talking for you where a coach, boss or friend is involved. After you turn 18, or even younger if you are on a team, you are in charge of you. Your mommy can't call for you anymore. Rope the damn thing.
Our days aren't always going to be sunshine and unicorns spraying water out of their horns folks. Some days are really gonna suck. There are mean people and scary people and sometimes things just don't always go our way. Some days are worse than just a Monday kind of sucking. Somedays you can't get out of bed because people we love die. And there is nothing wrong with that. We have to mourn and cry and scream but eventually, we have to get back out to the barn and right back on our horse. No matter what life draws us, we have to rope the damn thing anyway. Turn that bad calf into a check.
If you have a job you hate or are in a bad relationship, you are choosing to be there. Take a long look in the mirror and if you really aren't the problem, then get out. Sometimes you need to switch horses, but you still have rope the damn thing. We have to stop making excuses and own up to the fact that sometimes, we don't do our jobs and we fail. WE FAIL. Sometimes WE need to be the change. OWN IT. Rope the damn thing. Sometimes, we have to just go back to the practice pen, the bull pen, the Bible. We aren't teaching our children anything by explaining the ground was bad or it's just the luck of the draw. IT IS the luck of the draw and the ground IS bad but you have to get through it. You want to know why? Because somebody still managed to get it done with a bad calf and on the crappy ground and it wasn't you!
I read my Bible almost every single day. I try to do it every day but sometimes life just happens and the Cowboy makes me haul bulls early in the morning and stuff like that. LOL. But in the Bible, EVERYONE goes through bad times. Even God's chosen people. And I don't just mean somebody was mean to me at school kind of bad times. We are taking famine and locusts and frogs and death and once God Himself even "takes their children" bad times. But every single time, God gets them through it. He is teaching you something. I don't believe God punishes us. He certainly did David but He and David had a one on one like no other and God apparently thought David had it coming. I think it was a bit harsh myself but I wasn't there and I'm not God and maybe something was wrong with the child anyway. I'm throwing a bone there. God doesn't take your loved ones people. But if you will let Him, God will get you through any situation and show you something new and wonderful out of something unbearable and heart wrenching. He can turn pure sorrow into joy. I've seen it so many times in the Bible and in my own life.
Stop making excuses. Put God first and set those goals high. Get back in that practice pen and learn to win on whatever donkey runs out on whatever donkey you ride in on. It's YOUR donkey! That's life!!! You still have to do your job no matter what your job is. Let's own it folks. No more excuses. Rope the damn thing and bring home that check. You got this. ;)
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