Wednesday Words of Wisdom

Halloooo!  Here it is Wednesday again!  And a new year to boot!  So I've been standing out on my stump and considering what wise thing I could come up with to start off  2012.  Obviously I am going to have to do something to keep up with the Goatmother and the Goatfather.  Anyway, as I stood mid-rumination, I began to think about a list of sage recommendations for life recently sent to me by a friend.  This would be the perfect platform - well, actually the perfect platform is my stump, but that is rather hard to wax wisely upon.  So I began to consider that I might take a couple of these each Wednesday and sort of present them with a  little Caprine acumen.  You know, kind of a goatly spin.

Now, the first recommendation is this:  Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. (Grant you this may be, and is quite likely true.  Still I can't help but note that sometimes one simply does not have a choice.  Take my situation for example.  Here I am stuck in the same pasture, pen, what-have-you, with Ella.  Now I can't say that Ella really sucks the happiness out of you.  It's really more akin to knocking the happiness out of you.   There you are, minding your own business, happily going for a Peanut or a nice blade of grass and WHAM!  At best you find yourself a few feet away from where you started, at worst, and especially if you happen to be Watson, you find yourself looking at the world upside down.) If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you.  (Nor can I say that this is strictly true.  They might not want you in their life, or you might just be standing next to Boo and there quite simply is no room.  For anyone.  Or anything.) You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. (Now this I will agree with wholeheartedly.  I think I ought to be able to just stand there and let the Peanuts come to me without anyone getting in my way.  Without anyone else getting any Peanuts either, come to think of it.)  Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth.  And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends. (And that means that should you happen to figure out how to escape over the fence or get through the gate going into the barn, everyone else ought to be right there with you.  There is safety in numbers.  Besides, no one can really tell who the guilty party is that way.)

Now the second life recommendation is this:   Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on.  (I can tell you that a goat always follows this rule.  Or maybe it should say 'head to head'.)  No, it won’t be easy.  (Especially if the other goat is bigger than you or has a harder head.)  There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. (True.  Just ask Watson.)  We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. (Well, I don't know about that, but maybe that is why it is important to have a stump.)   That’s not how we’re made. (Of course not.  Only God knows that.  Or perhaps cloners.  They might know.)  In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. ( Just ask Watson or any other fainting goat.  Or somebody who has lived with an Alpine.) Because that’s the whole purpose of living (Wait!  I thought is was to eat Peanuts.) – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time.  This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become. (  I suppose this is true, although I don't think I've ever seen a moldy goat.  Oh, wait!  I think there is one from Oregon over at Herron Hill Farm where I was born.)

So, there you have this week's installment.   What a nice way to begin 2012.  Don't you feel better? As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”  I rather like that idea.