Follow Your Arrow (as printed in Today's Horse Magazine - May 2017
It's hard to believe that May is here already. To me, May is the threshold of summer. Green grass is abundant. Mother's Day rolls into graduations, which then rolls into school being out for summer break. We almost always brand our calves in May so that will be happening also. Then Memorial Day - the official beginning of summer (and in my world - rodeo season). What an exciting time of year!
The funny thing is the older I get the faster time goes. That just seems so unusual to me. I remember my elders telling me that very thing when I was a child and was complaining how long things seemed to take. I honestly never believed them and couldn't understand how time could speed up. I still don't know the answer to that mystery, but I know this....they were right! And with that, there is no time to waste.
So, do you have your plans made up for summer 2017? This question makes me smile because I think what my husband would say if he heard me ask this (I'll watch his face when he reads this). When we first met I asked him what his plans were for the future. He gave me the oddest look (like I had suddenly grown two heads) and was truly at a loss for words. My husband is not a planner. I am and in a big way. I make no apology for it either. I remember taking a test early on in my adolescence and it came back as me being a planner (I remember thinking the test was wrong). Alas, it was dead on.
I have long believed that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Some people think I'm a bit over the top here, but it's the honest to goodness truth. I don't know about you, but failing isn't an option for me so I plan out my life. Will my life follow my plan to a tee? No...and I know it won't. However, being able to maneuver around the things that change is a fun game in my opinion. It's great to always remain open to change to allow different, exciting things to occur. Will everything be exciting that occurs? No, but I can't worry about that. I do believe, however, that because I am a planner I will be able to react quicker than if I had no plan whatsoever.
If it's to be it's up to me! Have you ever heard that? Well, if you haven't you have now. Think about what I'm saying....like really think about it. You probably plan more than you know you do. Do you make "To Do" lists? Do you have a grocery list? As ranchers we are always planning ahead. Look at haying season. We aren't cutting down hay to feed our cattle now we are doing it for the cold winter months ahead that we know will arrive. We plan out our pipelines, wells, and windmill locations ahead of time. Breeding season is conducted with a forecast of next year's calf crop. So on and so forth. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. So, what I'm talking about is using the passing days in a constructive way. Follow your arrow! Get organized and hold yourself to it. Make a plan and go after it. Do it now! Sometimes later becomes never......and we all know the days go by quickly. ~Cheyenne