It Matters Where you Live

“The cow jumped over the moon fence!”

It Matters Where you Live

I don’t get phone calls a home past ten p.m.  (That’s a good thing.) So, when it happens it’s generally not good news.  Such was the case on this particular night.  I had just settled down to relax after a long day’s work when this unusual occurrence interrupted my night’s routine.

My wife, Sue, had answered the phone and walked down the hall to hand it to me.  I could tell from the look on her face that it was a conversation I didn’t want to have at this time of night!  Still, I took the receiver and began to speak with my neighbor Joe.

“I think your cow is out.” Joe said.  “When I drove home he was across the street near the front door of the home under construction.  I turned on my high-beams to make sure.”

Knowing it was dark and my cow is black I got up immediately so as to go out and lead him to safety.  It took me just a moment to put on my shoes and coat.  Then I walked out the door with a flashlight.

The wind was blowing and there was sprinkling water falling from a cloud-darkened sky when I opened the door.  As soon as I turned to my left and walked for a brief moment I could see Buck, my daughter’s horse, prancing and speaking with worry.  I followed his lead and looked straight ahead to see one lone cow trotting toward home.

You see, he knows where he lives!  He also knows it matters where he lives.  Home is where he learned life’s most important secret.  Cows can only learn to be the best cow they can be if they live with other cows!

If a cow lives alone there is no one to teach him what he needs to know.  He has to live and interact with older, more experienced cows in order to have important lessons passed along to him; it’s critical to the life of all cows.

An untrained eye watches a herd living in a field and doesn’t understand what’s happening.  In fact, when people watch my cows I often get negative comments about how the larger steers are “bullying” the smaller ones.

“Why do they always pick on the smaller steers?” They say,  “It’s just not right!”

When I receive such questions I take time to explain.  “The only way for a small young steer to become like the larger, strong steers is for the big ones to challenge him; to push him.  They learn can only learn important skills by living with the ‘big boys’.”  I say.

“Watch them in the field for a few months and you’ll begin to see a transformation in the young steers.  At first they are being pushed around at the will of the others.  But, soon they’ll learn what they need to know and they’ll get bigger and stronger.  It happens as if it’s magic!”

The upshot for you and me is that this is a universal principle.  It matters where you live!  If you’re a basketball player you need to be playing with older, bigger, more experienced players in order to become the best you can be.  If you’re an entrepreneur, you need to associate with people who have started, run, sold and advised successful companies.  If you’ll do so you’ll find yourself going through the same process as my steers.

When you’re beginning, you’ll feel inadequate and in many ways bullied by the more experienced people.  But, when you stick with it and learn your lessons through their tuition, it’s as if you wake up one day to see that you’ve become just like your mentors!

When my steer saw me on a blustery night, not long ago, he knew he could count on me to help him get back home.  I didn’t need to herd him or chase him.  I opened the gate; he walked through and was greeted by his peers.  He knows he can only reach a full measure of his creation by living in the right place!

It matters where you live.