The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Rules the World

It’s fitting that Mother’s Day occurs this time of year. For me, spring is the scene of many babies being born on our ranch and the wonderful reminder of how precious life is. I believe that no matter how hard things get, walking outside to the beautiful green grass, singing birds, and four-legged babies of all kinds just melts away all of the negativity.

I’m so grateful that I was born with all of the blessings that come along with being a female in agriculture. Maternal instinct is high on that list. It’s wonderful to see this characteristic in other animals. The connection between our mama cows and their calves is amazing. It is carried over to our mares and foals too. Truly, it’s something that I feel I have strongly in common with our critters.

The funny thing is that I never felt I had much of anything to do with “maternal” for the longest time. I was told at a young age that I couldn’t have children by several expert physicians. So, I came to terms with this certainty and went on with my life. When I was 35 years old, I was blessed with the greatest miracle that I’ve ever known. I had a son! He has been the most wonderful thing that my husband and I have ever known. He is our everything!

I think it’s really important that we always have gratitude for even the simplest things in our lives. Doing so takes away a lot of space in our lives for anything that isn’t helping us become better people. It helps us understand that it really is the little things in life that add up to be the big things.

Unplugging from the hustle and bustle of life is something that should be done frequently. This also helps us to get in touch with our inner voice. I have done this recently by doing an experiment on myself for two weeks (and may even push it for a full month). This experiment focuses on me cutting out social media from my life. It’s not an easy thing to do when a lot of life happens online. I also run my business online, but when my thoughts got clouded and I started feeling “blah” about everything I knew something drastic needed to happen.

So, here I am, a few days in - loving it! I’ve had to rearrange my thinking a bit. Habits take some time to get over. My mind is clearing up quickly and I’ve found so much more time to spend on things that truly make me happy. I’m still blogging as an outlet and checking email twice per day, but other than that I’m spending minimal time online. I’m spending a lot more quality time with my husband, our son, and our critters. I feel like a better mom for doing this (and a better steward of our livestock). Our son is changing how he spends his time too all from me making this change. Time is our most precious resource and if we are spending a lot of it engaged on social media what is left for our family? Just a thought for you to ponder.

I’m excited to see where this experiment takes me. Perhaps you will want to join me on this journey. If you do, send me an email (thenativecowgirl@gmail.com). I’d love to hear what you hope to gain in your experiment too! Remember, the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. We may not think we have a lot of pull in this big old world of ours, but it’s a lot mightier than you might imagine. Embrace that!