The right mindset...

Think encouraging thoughts - not critical ones.

Think about this...

When someone tells you that you CAN"T do something, what they really mean is that THEY can't do it!

Value...

The real worth of a person is measured in the lives they touch, not in the amount of possessions they acquire.

Believe is powerful...

You have to believe with all your heart and soul things will work out for the best. Remember, Noah built the Ark with no chance of rain in sight.

How will you spend life...

Life is like a coin - you can spend it how ever you like, but you only get one chance at it. 
Hoarding it does not add value, likewise burning through frivolously it does not make any more enjoyable. 

How will you spend yours?

Life is what you make it...

When you change the way you look at life - life will change for you!

Listen to your heart...

Do not set your goals only by what other people think is important. You and God know what is truly best for you.

For those struggling with problems...

It is hard to remember that your goal was to drain the swamp when you are up to your neck in alligators, but while you tend to the task at hand, always keep in mind the BIG PICTURE.

Wise words...

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving."
-Dale Carnegie

Things usually happen for a reason - your own...

Every life is shaped to a certain extent by chance and by destiny. Ultimately, however, it is our own free will - our choices and actions - which matter.
Some say, "My life was predetermined. I did not ask for what happened to me, it was the will of God." They roll along thinking everything is circumstantial without any control (or responsibility) on their part. On the other end of the spectrum, it's said, "Life is a game of chance, karma does not exist, only accidents. You cannot determine what others do and what happens around (and to) you."
Both are wrong, there is nothing more influential than your own choices and actions.
It's what YOU do and how YOU react to what goes on around you that determines YOUR OWN circumstances. Sure, some things are more probable than others because of outside influences. God or karma (depending upon your beliefs) placed you in the family, the economic situation, the environment you were born into. In the end however, it's always what you do with the cards you've been dealt, that determine where you go in life. It does not matter what is put in front of you, what matters most, is what you do with it - how you react to it.
I believe a person's will, a divine plan and karma all coexist in a person. Make the most of them, the choice is yours.

Work comes before rewards...

You cut wood before you can get heat from the stove.

Become more and you get more...

In order to have more, you must become more. One person thinks, "If I had a better job, I would really pour it on, but I have a lousy job so I just goof off." If this is your philosophy, you are destined to stay there. Others say, "If I had lots of money, I would be generous, but I don't have much so I'm not generous." You have to change that philosophy or you will never have "more." Unless YOU change, your circumstances won't change.     -Jim Rohn

Trail to success...

A goal is attainable by making a proper plan, a plan in which we must believe in with all our heart and soul, a plan which we must visualize as coming about in our minds eye and then we have to work at it with the same intensity as a mother protecting her young; this is the trail to success.

Get ink at www.inkcartridges.com

The rat race...

An obsession to purchase things you really don't need, with money you really don't have, all too often just to impress folks you really don't even like!

He who has the most toys is not always a winner and toys alone will not bring you happiness. Get out of the rat race and join the human race. Start LIVING!!!

Continue to learn...

Long ago there was a feller who spent some time learning how to shoe horses. When he felt properly trained, and considered his education complete, he bought brand new shoeing equipment and set out across the west, visiting ranchers and farmers, eager to be successful in his new career. 

The first day, he shod twenty head! Made more money than he'd ever seen at one time before. He became inspired to do more - and make more! As he moved about the county, from place to place, he kept working harder and harder. Became more determined each day to be a success; there was a problem however. 

Each day, although he put in more hours, even to the point of working from first light to last, he was gradually completing fewer and fewer shoeing jobs. Within a few weeks time, he could only get about half as many horses done as in the beginning, even though he worked twice as hard.

Distraught over this dilemma, he asked a wise, respected and successful old rancher if there was any advice for him. “Why the heck am I working so hard, but seem like I'm losing ground?” lamented the shoer. After observing the shoer for a while, the rancher commented, “When was the last time you sharpened your tools?” He then pointed out a very dull set of nippers, knife and a worn out rasp, to the over worked horseshoer. The man replied he did not know how to sharpen those things, it was not part of his original training and it would be some time before he would be back near a town to buy new ones or have them sharpened by someone else.

The rancher said to him, “Why don’t you take a little time off and learn how to sharpen them so you can do it yourself between towns?” The shoer replied, “Oh, I work way to much as it is now. I can’t take time off to learn something like that, when would my work get done if I went back to learning!”

Some folk just can’t see the forrest for the trees. The man completely missed the wise rancher’s point. By taking a day off to go learn something new to help him in his trade, he would save himself a lot of time in the long run and make more money to boot. Work ethic alone will not do it in most cases. We all need to work smarter as well as harder. Take time to sharpen your tools (especially the mind).

Check out towel racks made out of horseshoes...

Someone is going to do it - it could be you!

There’s a line in an old Chris Ledoux song that goes, “So you want to be a cowboy and you want to rodeo. Well I don’t see nothin’ to hold you back just pack your things and go.”

Just about anything you want is possible. You may ask, “How?” Here is advice I’ve always taken to heart:

The first thing you have to commit to is to improve yourself. Are you trying to get better at what you do or are you remaining the same? Remember, just because you were the Jr. Rodeo Champion or won first with your project at the County Fair - that was the past. Now winning things in the past is fine - really great! It’s a good learning tool and confidence builder, but those wins do not guarantee a bright future. Each day, someone is out there making the decision to better themselves. Each day the bar is being raised. What won yesterday, or even today, is only mediocre tomorrow. Be that person who makes a commitment to get better each and every day.

Once you have decided to become better, you will need a plan. Train a little each day. Study a little each day. Save a dollar each day. Begin to perfect and hone your skills in every way possible. Start with achievable goals and then increase on them. 

The most important thing you will need to do is act. People with big dreams are a dime a dozen. All of the great ideas, all the best plans in the world don’t mean a thing until you put action behind them. There are a select few who act on their dreams. You will probably recognize those who do. They are the successful people you read and hear about each day. Someone will put action with their plan and dreams today, why not you?

Another line in that song goes, “For every man who’s made it, a hundred more have failed.” Study those who have made it. What set them apart from the others? Most times you’d be surprised that it was just a little bit of extra effort. These folk are not super human - nobody is. These are just the ones who made a firm commitment to do it, put a plan into place, set some goals and then acted upon them. Sometimes folks give up not realizing that the extra mile is only one inch away from completion. Someone is going to do it - it could be you!

How you approach it matters...

One day we installed an automatic gate on the main dirt road into the ranch. Everyone was tired of getting out of the truck, having to open the old metal gate, each time you went somewhere. A cattle guard was considered, but in the end, the automatic gate was deemed appropriate.

The better part of a day was spent installing components that went with the gate in order to have it open automatically. There had to be a sensor buried in the road each direction, a master box which controlled the mechanical workings of the gate when it received a signal from the sensor and a solar panel to provide electricity to the whole works. 

Once completed, it worked beautifully. We were proud of the mechanical wonder created,  in spite of us being a bunch of cowboys, better suited for dealing with animals. In order to get the marvel open, you simply drove within about fifty feet of the gate and the sensor under the road would feel the weight of the vehicle and tell the master box to open ‘er up. Once through, the other sensor would feel the weight and tell the thing it was ok to close. Now that’s plumb handy.

Most everyone got the hang of it right away. Although the sensors under the dirt road were not marked, you just kind of knew where they were. Kind of felt it, you might say. There was one ol’ boy however who always complained he had trouble with not knowing exactly where the things were.

He would drive tentatively up to where he thought the sensors were and then start second guessing himself that he may have missed it, or that he had driven too slowly and they did not sense the weight of his vehicle. So he’d go back and forth several times before finally getting the gate to open. Then he’d be scared the thing was going to shut on him before he got clear so he would race through and worry that he had gone to fast over the second sensor for it to read the weight and that it may not close. This gate situation really worried him.

On the other hand, there was a feller who had studied the gate and knew the exact speed at which you could go and not have to slow down while it opened. He scared the heck out of the first guy (and a few others as well) by going at the gate without slowing down as it went through its motions of opening. However, it always opened, just enough, and just in the nick of time. His timing was perfect.

One day, the first guy was driving, and as he approached the gate, we all started giving him a hard time about not being able to drive, being scared of an ol’ gate, etc.. The second guy made him stop the truck well before we got there however and this is what he did:

He said, “If you will go at that gate at seven miles per hour, without fear, and don’t flinch or weaken, it will open for you like the parting of the Red Sea. Put all your fears aside and just trust in it - it WILL happen.” He went on to say, “Now this ol‘ road here is just like the trail of life. From time to time you’ll come upon closed gates in your way. If you go at them with confidence, steady-like, knowing that you have a good plan for opening them and that it WILL work; you’ll come through like a champ. On the other hand, people who approach life’s gates (obstacles) with fear and worry and tentatively go back and forth, here and there, rarely come out winners.” He concluded with, “Now listen here, you can start to be a winner in life right here and now, but it takes commitment. Think of that gate as the world opening up for you and be confident that the plan you have laid will work. Don’t be skeered and don’t weaken. I know it’s in ya’.”

I always remember that little incident when obstacles get in life’s pathway. I want to be the kind of person who boldly approaches the gate (problem) knowing that if I implement a solid plan it will cede the road to me. I then forge ahead, boldly, confidently knowing that no matter what, I can make problems in life work to my benefit. Kinda like that gate in the pasture, it can work for you and help you, or it can hinder and worry you. It’s all in how you approach it.

I believe in this...

"Never give up. Never ever give up. Why? Because just when you are about to give up is when things are about to turn around in a grand way. Hold on. Great things are waiting for you around the corner."
-Sonia Ricotti

Your ideas don't work unless you do…

     I used to work with this feller, I’ll call him Einstein. Well ol’ Einstein always had a bigger and better idea on how to reinvent the wheel. Any time we had a job to do, he’d spend a whole bunch of time figuring out ways to do it easier. Most times he was just trying to figure how to get out of work. Some of the time, he would come up with an idea on how to do it easier, but would spend more time thinking about it and talking about it than it took to just do it. However, once in a while, he really had a good idea.

     One day we were laying water pipeline to a new drinker in a rough pasture…and I don’t mean above ground. We were burying it two feet deep to keep it from freezing in the winter. It was about a mile project - and mean work. We went right on with it, figuring the best way to git 'er done - was to just get done with it. As usual, Einstein hung back and studied on it a bit. After considerable time had passed, he had this bright idea on how we could do this process with less effort. We told him to get busy and implement his idea...it just might work.

     Ol’ Einstein pumped up with pride at the thought of us actually liking one of his ideas. He bragged about how great it was gonna be, how he would save everyone some work and how he'd thought of it all by himself. He was still talking about it when we finished the pipeline later that day. He was still bragging about his idea that night at the bunkhouse. By then, he was even talking about patenting it…no, seriously! 

     Finally, one ol’ cowhand who had seen a few miles in his time, and usually made a lot of sense, looked at Einstein, spat in disgust, then said, “Yer ideas don’t work less you do.” Truer words had never been laid upon Einstein before. We laughed heartily at the expense of our embarrassed compadre, but that old puncher had shore-nuff said a mouthful!

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right…

     When I was a young cowboy, full of knowledge (at least I thought so) …ok…full of mischief and full of myself; I worked on a large ranch between Milnesand and Crossroads, New Mexico. Not much more than wide spots in the road - either of them. It was desolate and it was cowboy country.

     One project I worked on that summer was building a new barbed wire fence to separate one big ol’ pasture in two. I did not like the work. Pounding steel posts into the ground with a ten-pound driver in hundred-degree weather was not my idea of romance. After all, I’d hired on to COWBOY! Although I did my job, I let it be known I figured the work was beneath me. I performed without enthusiasm.

     One day, the boss came by and watched me for a while. He then got out of his pickup and grabbed a post driver and went to work right there beside me. The first post, he drove in much quicker than I. Believing he would run out of steam from showing off pretty quick, I quietly smirked under my breath. Let’s see if he runs out of energy in a bit, I thought. He didn’t.

     For the next several posts, he drove in about two to my one. I then thought, “I’ll show him!” I was young and tough and in great shape and I went to pounding posts with a spirit of competition and enthusiasm! There was no way I was going to let a guy who spent more time driving around in a pickup than doing physical labor out-work me…I’d show him.

     We worked side by side for the next hour or more without saying a word…just driving in post after post in harmonious rhythm. Before long, I had a smile on my face and was enjoying the unspoken competition going on. Eventually, the boss stopped and grabbed a jug of cold water, offering me a drink. I took it. Water never tasted so sweet as it did that hot summer day with sweat pouring down my neck and muscles twitching from exertion. Without saying a word, he looked back along the long line of posts we had just driven in and smiled a smile of great satisfaction. I looked as well, out of curiosity over what he was smiling about. Every post we had just driven in together was straight as a string and equal in height. Perfect! The posts from my earlier work farther down the line were not quite as…perfect. I grinned. I knew.

     He was a very busy feller and did not have time to spend out there on the flat pounding posts in the ground. After all, that is why he hired guys like me; He had more important things to do. So it was no surprise when he turned to his truck to leave. Before he got in, he slowly looked around and spoke his first words since arriving. He simply drawled, “If it’s worth doin’, it’s worth doin’ right.” He nodded at me and drove off.

     I finished that fence a week or so later. The last portion of it was noticeably finer than the first. Not better necessarily, the part I built first would separate cattle just the same as the second part, but the second part looked like someone with pride - pride in what they do - had built it.

     I learned more about work ethic, ego, try, pride and life that afternoon than in any other period of my life consisting of the same time frame. I had a whole new respect for the boss and a new outlook on life…and during the whole lesson; he’d only spoke eight simple words. 

Borrowed from a friend...

There are many people who think they are wealthy and are not. We’ve seen the television series “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” Most times it should be called “Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish.”  When is a rich man poor? When he tries to find satisfaction in his money. Solomon, one of the wisest (and richest) men who ever lived, said, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). 

Dream big, work hard...

We are only as big as we allow ourselves to be. Anyone can have big dreams and wish to be a great success someday, but the wheat gets separated from the chaff when the winds of failure start to blow. The real test in finding out whether you will reach your goals or not comes when you have to dig a little deeper than the rest and try a little harder than you once thought possible.

Branding irons and love...

At times, thoughts and experiences from the past hinder us from enjoying the present. Our minds are in the habit of labeling experiences: good, bad, ugly, beautiful, safe, dangerous, happy, got bucked off, burned, etc.. This can work for us and teach us; for example, we learn a branding iron is hot and can burn so we "label" it as "dangerous" and avoid it. However, only a small part of it is dangerous, and only in certain situations (when it's heated up). We know that.
In many life experiences however, this instinct to label holds us back. We do not label the whole iron as "bad" just because a small part of it can be - but many fail to enjoy the present because they are too busy labeling it or living with a jaded view.
Just because you got "burned" once does not mean you should completely avoid a thing again. Negative emotions about the past may no longer be relevant at this moment. By viewing experiences as negative and approaching them with a sour attitude, you may be failing to give yourself a chance at enjoying the here and now. The past is gone, there is nothing you can do about it but learn from it...then file it away and do not dwell on it.
THIS moment is ALL you really have, why taint it with worries about the past...or the future? Just as you learned how to handle a branding iron and make it work for you without getting "burned," you can apply this to your life as well. Love, for example, can bite you or love can excite you - you have the choice to look at it, and use it, one way or the other. Robbing yourself of the enjoyment of THIS moment because of something that happened in the past is like never marking your cattle again because you once got burned!
Remember to enjoy the experience for what it is; a new moment, unfolding in front of your eyes, full of wonderful possibilities! Love! Live! Enjoy!

Jump in with both feet...

Today I bail into the river of life with great expectations! I believe a good, strong current will take me in the right direction; an exciting, prosperous direction. I trust in God to watch over my trip.

You can see into the future...

Dreams are previews of the future you can create. Everything begins with a thought, so think/dream BIG!

Something to think about...

Question for the day; fill in the blank:
In order to begin experiencing a more fulfilling life, I need to _____________.
Now, when do I begin?

Life's current...

Life is like a river and most cling to the bank, afraid to let go and see where life will take 'em. We cling to supposed security there on the sidelines while the current of life passes right on by. If your waiting for just the right moment, guess what, that moment is NOW! Let go and see where the river will take ya!

All trails open...

Pard, your current position does not limit where you can go...it only determines from where you must start!

Growth and change...

If you think the same about things now as you did twenty years ago, partner, you've been spinnin' your wheels. As you grow in knowledge and experience, old ideas give way to new ones. This is good - it's as it should be. If not, your creative system will get clogged up quicker than a ditch full of brush, slow up progress and bog you down.

Truth in politics...

Tryin' to get the truth out of a politician is kinda like chasin' your own shadow; the harder you chase it, the more it wiggles on you.

The difference between wise and windy...

Some fellers' talk 'cause they have something to say; others talk 'cause the have to say something!

Handy...

There's a big difference 'tween pullin' your weight and throwin' it around!

On pessimism

Ya' know the problem with a pessimist is, he thinks the whole world is just like him.

Everything is accomplished with momentum...

The longer you put things off...the longer you put them off. To get in the game, to get going - simply START!

When trying to "trade up" remember...

It's one thing to get all you want in life. For example: big ranch, lots of cattle, pretty horses, fancy truck and so on; it's another to learn to enjoy life and be happy. Few get the first part accomplished, fewer yet, ever figure out the second. Most don't realize that being happier than a puppy with an old shoe is not found in having material things...it comes from within. 

The time is now...

Pard, it ain't ever to late to become the hand in life you want to be.

In the rodeo called life, enter up and give it a shot...

 And remember, what other people think of you is none of your business. Do the best YOU can do and let the chips fall where they may...that's all you can anyway.

Wealth in all areas...

No matter how big a ranch, how many cattle and how much money you have, unless you're successful as a human being, you're not truly successful. 

Sage advice

We all know enough to lead perfect lives. We all know the Golden rule and have read the Sermon on the Mount. Our trouble is not ignorance but inaction.  -Dale Carnegie 

Thoughts about reliving the glory days...

Do you spend more time and energy reliving yesterday's rodeo than thinking about today's? Remember, you can never go back and change what happened, good or bad. However, you can start right now preparing for the best  possible performance today and tomorrow.

Playing God...

Pard, even God does not judge us till the end of our days, so who are we to pass judgement now?

We all think we have problems, but...

Most times, if everyone in the world threw their problems in a pile, then saw everyone else's, we'd grab our own back & ride like heck!

Tomorrow never comes...it's always today.

Wear your good boots, use the pretty towels, nice sheets and good china. Don't save them for a special occasion...today is special!

Two horses carry more than one...

Share with someone close to you, it will make your burden easier to bear. 

Just like a horses tail follows him around...

If you don't make peace with your past, Pardner, it  will follow you and can sure mess up your present.

Learned while observing growling dogs...

Remember, even if you're right - you don't have to win every argument. Most times, it's best to agree to disagree...or just walk away.

The Grass Always Seems Greener...

Comparing your life to others is a waste of time. You have no idea what they have gone through until you've ridden a few years in their saddle.

Financial logic...

Pay off your credit cards every month. If the money isn't there, refrain from buying it. Borrowing against your future is like selling a calf before he's born! It's risky business.

How you spend your time...

Every moment you waste on negativity, bitterness, worry or fear is one less moment available for enjoying life, and pardner, life ain't all that long to start with!

A cowboy's thoughts on hesitation...

When in doubt, sink spur, give 'em heck, and see where the ride takes you!

The Rat Race

One thing I've learned about the Rat Race...the winner is still a rat!

Life's Good

 Life may not always be fair, but it's still good.

Think about it...

A person generally has two reasons for doing something; the real one...and another that sounds good.

Get along with your fellow man - it pays!

Andrew Carnegie started off as as an underprivileged young man whose first job made him only two cents per hour. Although he only attended school four years, later in life, he became very successful and gave away over 350 million in charitable contributions during his own lifetime (that being 100-year-ago dollars). In an interview he once attributed his success to the fact he, "...learned how to handle people."

The significance of a horse’s behind...

Does the expression, “We’ve always done it that way!” ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That is an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that is the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads. Why did the English build them like that?

Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that is the gauge they used. Why did “they” use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools used for building wagons, which used the same wheel spacing.

Okay...

Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads...

Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they all had the same wheel spacing. Therefore, the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot.

Bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse’s rear came up with it, you may be exactly right. This is because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war-horses.

Now, the twist to the story…

There is an interesting extension to the story about railroad gauges and horses’ behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs.

Thiokol makes the SRBs at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.

So, a major design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse’s rear.

-Borrowed, author unknown

To blame another is to give them power over you.

It doesn't matter how much material wealth you have, unless you're successful as a human being, you're not truly successful.

If you are not happy while working, there is either something wrong with you or the work you have chosen. Figure it out as soon as you can and make the appropriate change. Is it your work? Or your attitude towards it?  Work should not seem like work at all if things are working harmoniously. Life is too short to be miserable that much of the time.

"Don't get trapped into chasing and maintaining a lifestyle. The lifestyle thing, the money thing, the white-house-with-a-picket-fence thing. All materialistic games that people play are such a rat race that you'll lose your dream in no time flat... Lifestyle is a killer. Lifestyle will masquerade as your dream realized. Soon, the lifestyle will seem more important than the dream. Appearances, comforts and keeping up with the Joneses is not the road to a fulfilling future." -Milton Katselas

Sound words, in my opinion. -J.O.

You can read all the spiritual/self-help books you want. You can go to religious services from now till doom's day. You can talk high and mighty till you can speak no more; but until you take ACTION and ACT the part, none of that means a thing.

Meant to do VS. Want to do

Every person is born with certain natural tendencies (things we are meant to do). According to these, our lives are shaped. We also conscientiously take certain paths on our own (things we want to do), these guide our lives as well. When our naturally given and conscientiously taken paths are of the same alignment, things seem to fall into place much easier.

Something to think about...

If you could do anything in the world, and money is not a factor, what would it be? Why are you not doing it now?

Walking into the local convenience store today, there was a scraggly looking man in front asking for a dollar, said he needed gas to get back home. I gave him a dollar - looked like he could use it. About that time he asked another fellow for some change and the guy gave him a dirty look and stomped off. Inside this guy tells me, "That bum is just going to buy wine with that money." I tell him, "Yeah, or maybe he really needed gas...any way, it was just a buck and it made both him and I feel better." The guy shook his head and walked off. A few minutes later while in the checkout line, I turned around and the non-charitable man was behind me...with a 24-pack of beer. Hmmm... Now I know that man can spend his money any way he wants, but I had to smile at the irony of it all...

Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~Albert Einstein~

Like the old saying goes..."Do what you love and you will never have to "WORK" a day of your life.