One must work hard to achieve a goal in life
Late January marks the date for the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show and Rodeo.
That was a major event when I was just a button admiring the big kids that proudly wore their big shiny buckles that they had won as a prize for being the best in some contest. Many of them had good show stock that gave them a chance to win the big prize, usually a big shiny buckle. But they reached their goal by putting in many hours of planning and doing whatever it took to be successful.
They actually spent hours of hard work, beyond their regular chores and their school homework. Did that guarantee that they would win? NO! But it does help them build self-esteem, confidence, and a feeling of a job well done!
Yes, the winners sported those big shiny buckles and the pride of being the best that they could be and they had earned the right to strut around showing off those big shiny buckles. That put a craving on the rest of us to achieve that kind of success, but life doesn’t give everyone the chance to be at the top, though it dangles that carrot in front of us to help us try.
Success is there if we just do not Give up! Galations 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.”
Now, you can just figure that my goal was to own one of those big shiny buckles. But that goal eluded me for several years until 2012 when I won the All-Around Championship at the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo in Kanab, Utah. And it was a pleasing event to slip on that big shiny buckle at last! I write all of that to make this point. True rewards do not come easy. One must not only work hard to achieve your goal, but you must be willing to go the extra mile, put in the extra hours, and commit yourself to the task.
The National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo was not my first rodeo and immediately at the close of the 2011 event I set my goal to be a top contender at the 2012 event. I would be competing in at least four events and would need at least two poems per event, so my first task was to select the poems I would use.
Half of the poems must be my own original poems while half would be poems written by other poets. I needed poems that people would relate to and that I could do a good job reciting. It was a tough task, but I chose the ones that I would use and immediately began learning and reciting those poems.
I am sure that my young bride Stella’s ears got sore from listening to me practice every day, seemingly all day long. No, I wasn’t a young pup working for a living. I had retired from my day job and had eaten my seventieth birthday cake. So, you can teach old dogs new tricks!
All of this practice resulted in success as I won a second and three firsts in the Rising Star division and four second place finishes in the Silver Buckle division. In addition to winning a “big shiny buckle” and a plaque for the All-Around Championship, I also received a great monetary reward. In addition, I was the opening act that night at a Lynn Anderson concert where she sang her signature song “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden.”
Well, my arm is a bit sore from patting myself on the back, but I wanted you, especially the young people, to see that it takes a lot of hard work, commitment, and determination to reach the goal that you have set and that it may take a while to finally reach your goal. Life does not promise us a rose garden, but if we continually get back on that horse when it has unseated us, we convince ourselves that we can be successful!
Winston Churchill is credited with this motivational statement given as a commencement speech, “NEVER…..GIVE UP!”
The Prize Buckle
He rode through the night for miles an’ miles, face grim, not many smiles,
Ponderin’ what it takes to do his best, Just for personal fame an’ glory, to write the next chapter in his story,
to stand tall an’ proud meetin’ life’s test.
‘Twas in a cowboy’s spirit to be tops,
In a contest, he’d try ‘til he drops,
A cowboy would get a twinkle in his eyes,
No amount of practice would be to hard,
He wanted to be better than his pard,
When a big shiny buckle was the prize.
The time had come for the big show,
the west’s pride an’ joy, the rodeo,
He’d paid his entry fee an’ lets out a chuckle,
On that tally sheet he scratched his name,
along with pokes that done the same,
he took a look at that shiny big buckle!
You see, a cowboy is filled with pride,
there just ain’t a hoss that he can’t ride,
That’s what it takes to be worth your salt,
Stand up to your braggin’ an’ build your rep,
showin’ your vigor an’ your pep,
Do your best an’ momentum is hard to halt.
Many an hour from early to late,
ridin’ the rough string was his fate,
An’ everyone of them tried to do him in,
They stomped an’ kicked for all they were worth,
him cussin’ the day of their birth,
But the worst they could do, just made him grin.
‘Cuz he knew he was getting’ leather hard,
it took that to earn an’ reach his reward,
All this tough work would help him reach his goal,
The tasks ahead were ones he would not shirk,
as he learned tricks an’ every quirk,
His destiny was his to control.
So day after day throughout the year,
He faced this task showin’ no fear,
He took his knocks an’ learned the trade,
He just got better with all his tries,
Growin’ tough an’ stronger an’ more wise,
But it will be worth the price he paid.
An’ now it’s time from the chute to fly,
He lifts his bronc rein up toward the sky.
an’ takes a deep seat ‘fore he nods his head,
the gate flings open an’ he marks that hoss out,
he’s a shore ‘nuff bucker there is no doubt,
but he sits that saddle like he’s home abed.
That hoss squalls an kicks an’ goes on up high,
The kid just spurrin’ in silent reply.
Hoss shore tryin’ but that kid is plumb wise,
He knew success comes from hard work,
His eyes slightly squinted, on his face a smirk,
That big shiny buckle would be his prize!
© Ol’ Jim Cathey
Tip o’ the week -- Success is no accident. It is learning, studying, sacrifice, hard work, perseverance, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do!
God Bless you and God Bless America