Cowpassion

A Cowboy, his horse and compassion

Cowpassion

It was just one of those feelings.  I couldn’t explain it in any way, but this time I actually listened and made the drive home.

As I drew near I noticed a man walking along the side of the road.  “Strange.” I whispered to myself.  “I don’t think I’ve seen that cowboy around here before.”

I turned into my drive.  Something was off.  It just wasn’t right!  I slowed toward my garage, looking.  All was quiet. Then, off to my right I saw it.  The middle gate was open, flapping a message to me.

“You had better take a good look in the pasture!”

Look I did!  I only saw grass dancing lightly in the breeze!

By this time I had parked, standing in my drive, looking all around and it didn’t take long.  I spotted two black steers in the corral across the street.  I walked toward them, looking for the cowboy that my instincts begged me to find.

After crossing the street and I continued down a private lane for a bit.  There he was!  Standing.  Talking.  Accessible.

“Looks as if you were kind enough to corral my steers.”  I approached.

“Yes.”  He said, while carefully following up with questions to ensure they belonged to me.  “They’re better off here than on the road!  I gathered them up because I didn’t want them to get hit by a car.  I had one of mine hit by a car last year.  These are fine looking animals!”

“Will you please help me herd them home?”  I asked.

“Sure.  I just need to get some lunch first.  What’s your number and I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

He called in a few minutes, so I took the short walk across the street.  He greeted me sitting high in his saddle.  “I’m too lazy to walk.”  He chuckled.

I knew that wasn’t true because I had seen him walk.  He was simply a cowboy!  A cowboy is always more comfortable wrangling cows on the back of his horse.

“If you’ll open the gate, I’ll go in the corral and push them out.  We’ll keep them on this side so they don’t run where they shouldn’t.”  He said, looking over his shoulder.  “They seem pretty gentle.”

“They are.”  I replied.  “I hand feed them.  They know where they live.”

The steers came out of the corral toward me.  I asked them to go on home and we walked together in that direction.  I talked to the steers.  They know my voice.  They trust it.  I asked the cowboy to come along shoring up our right as part of our procession.

“Not much of a rodeo!” The Cowboy said as I snapped the chain around the gate.  “Don’t know why they’d every want to leave here!  I’m glad they’re safe at home.”

I asked him to wait so I could give him a gift.  It was a small gift compared to the gift of compassion he had given my steers and me!  It was just a feeling.  I couldn’t explain it.  A Cowboy I didn’t know offered a gift of compassionate service that will never be forgotten.

Amazing Transformations

“Troy specializes in business systems and works with people to make amazing transformations!” – Jerry Vance

Amazing Transformations

Jerry Vance, Brad Bertoch and I were standing in hallway at VentureCapital.org talking.  Jerry had pulled us aside and asked, “Can I talk with you for a minute?”

Of course, we said yes!

“Have I ever introduced you to Troy Skabelund?”  Jerry queried.

“Yes.” I answered.  “I’ve worked with Troy on a Cooperative Venturing Team.  He does amazing work!”

“Troy is a business systems expert and has done amazing things with companies such as Disney.  I’d like us to figure out how to use his expertise to help more people!”  Jerry continued.

His comments stirred a memory back in the far reaches of my mind. Way back in 1958 Time Magazine wrote, “for every company that slims down its operation, another discovers new ways of doing things that should have been in effect for years but were overlooked during the boom.” 

We all know that Economic adversity forces companies and people to find creative ways to cut costs and it inspires us to find all sorts of methods to improve the way we do things.  And, once in place we always find that the changes made work so well that we’d never go back to the old way of doing things.  The process of struggling can lead us to become our very best.

The best of us show our true colors during times of struggle.  When struggling, you and I may be tempted to lay low and wait for things to pick up, but this is exactly the wrong approach; instead, we should redouble our efforts by recognizing that a crisis can be a catalyst for creativity if we choose to make it so.  Here are a couple of key actions that will bring out a person’s very best by allowing creativity to flow during challenging times.

Embrace the counterfact.  A counterfact is an alternate scenario our brains create to help us evaluate and make sense of what really happened.  In other words, you and I can choose to invent an alternate, positive, scenario.  We can decide to consciously select a counterfact that makes us feel fortunate rather than helpless.  And choosing a positive counterfact, besides making us feel better, sets up the benefits of motivation that come with a positive way of thinking or style of explanation.

Change your style of explanation.  As a salesman by profession I live the life of a salesman, which is fraught with failure and rejection.  New statistics from the National Association of Realtors show that within five years of becoming a Realtor, only two and a half percent of Realtors remain in business.  Now that’s an eye-opening statistic!  Over the years I’ve noticed that the people who consistently do well seem to be immune from the setbacks to which others have surrendered.  No matter what difficulty they face, they always bounce right back.  They all share an optimistic explanatory style and their belief directly affects their actions toward higher performance.  The bottom line is that virtually success is dictated by one’s explanatory style!

My friend, and colleague, Les Ellison once said to me, “I love it when I have no business because I know it can’t get worse than this!”  His statement is perhaps the greatest example of a positive explanatory style I’ve ever heard.

I heard Jerry’s voice nudging me back. 

“Troy specializes in business systems and works with people to make amazing transformations!”  Jerry explained.

“I agree with you Jerry!”  I said.  “Perhaps we can design a series of seminars where he can actively help more people.  I can’t think of a better time to begin.”

Yes.  Now is the perfect time for you and me to begin, to make our own amazing personal transformations as well.  Will you and I surrender to the challenges of life or will we allow ourselves to become transformed by living an optimistic explanatory style?

When Your Well Goes Dry

“This is really testing you isn’t it” – Michael Jensen

When Your Well Goes Dry

“Hello Michael!  I know how busy you are, but I’ve done everything I can think of and I am desperate for your help!”

The words were a millisecond from my mouth when I realized what an illusion, or perhaps delusion, I was living.  I like to think of myself as living a self-reliant life.  And, “from the mouth of babes!”   Yes.  In the total scheme, the immensity, of life I am clearly a newborn baby living in our world’s vast womb of creation.

“I had crafted this irrigation system and thought I understood every part of it.”  I said when Michael Jensen arrived at my home an hour or so later.  “But, this is beyond me!”

Those words, “this is beyond me,” allowed a rush of relief over my shoulders.  I appreciated my true position for the first time in weeks.  And, I just came to understood that this experience was one of the most important of my life!  It was an opportunity for me to learn a critical personalized lesson.

The infinite cannot be controlled.

As human beings we like to carve out a little corner of infinity so we can try to make sense of it all.  We put a fence around one small piece so there is a boundary of security.  A place we can control.  We’ve all done it and we’ll all continue to do it.  It simply allows us to live conveniently in many ways.

 We can, however, live conveniently while admiring the magnificent.  Doing so is like tapping in to an ever flowing well of life giving water.

Look at surrounding detail.  I reached through the pasture fence as a gesture of friendship.  My steers offered their noses in response.  Their moist smooth noses touched my hand.  Then their uniquely crafted tongues snaked out of their mouths.  They were like sand paper to the touch with an ability to grasp and influence what they desired into their mouths.  As soon as I began to focus on these intriguing details and how they were different my troubles faded into the background.

Appreciate infinite diversity.  I walked away from my steers, shovel in hand and began to dig out the valve box that was buried in the ground.  I looked at each scoop of dirt and began to notice a wide variety of insects and other kinds of life.  When I examined the dirt from the hole I soon saw there were all kinds of creatures that called this small patch of dirt home.  This view caused me to reverence the fact that this isn’t just my home.  It is our home and they all play a specialized role in keeping it beautiful!

Embrace specialization.  All of the creatures making up our home have unique and specialized talents.  None of these can live life without the help of the other inhabitants.  We all need each other!

I also needed Mike at this very moment.  I looked up at him and saw the talents that are uniquely his.  When he arrived, I was afraid my well was going dry.  But, now that I was paying attention to the details of infinite diversity and embracing the specialized talents those I was with a new reality sprang into view. 

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Thank goodness Mike’s different than I am!   Thank goodness for the infinite number of creatures that make this world our home!  And, oh!  Thank goodness they were there put water back into my well of life.

A Natural Solution

"Don't let the age bother you.” - George Jedenoff

A Natural Solution

It was one amazing day!  The sky was bright blue and the jagged granite spires of Snowbird were punching holes through that colorful air.  But, the most amazing part of this particular day was the opportunity to gather and ski at Snowbird in July as part of the 100^th birthday celebration for George Jedenoff! 

And, George would tell you that every day is amazing.  "Life is so short, even100 years on this Earth," he said during his centenary gathering. "Make every minute count."

Then he went on to teach a little more about math and the kind of counting you and I must do to mix up an exceptional life.

"Don't let the age bother you," he said. "Don't let the negative things in your life, of which we all have a lot, outweigh the all the positive blessings that you have."

With such a positive outlook on life one might come to the conclusion that George just doesn’t have any obstacles in his life, that he leads an enchanted life.  But, that isn’t true.  He’s been married to his wife for more than 74 years and he continues to help her through her ongoing health difficulties.

In speaking of such, George’s advice is to view life's obstacles as opportunities rather than problems.  And, he’s a great example of how to accomplish this. 

"It's hard to communicate with kids, and I’ve always found that riding a chairlift is a great time to connect because you have that uninterrupted time," George explained.

He believes that finding the right connection is the real key to successful living.  And, George’s life reveals how it works. He has an unusual ability to combine love and gratitude as a means to overcome life’s obstacles.  He lives by focusing on the activities and people he loves.  Then he mixes them together as a natural solution.

George’s mix was all right there!  Natural beauty, friends, family, gratitude and love, but who’s counting?