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.
