If you look at the top of my blog, you will see a tab, titled “Cowboy Wisdom.” I urge you to read through this…there is some wisdom, and a lot of humorous observations that will give you a laugh, and maybe a warm feeling in your heart. Some of these I find especially useful, and I wanted to comment on them.
No good deed goes unpunished
This is a common aphorism today, but one that is very important to remember. We all expect to be rewarded for good deeds. We expect God to look upon us kindlier because of the good deeds we do. Many of us do good deeds for that reason.
Unfortunately, good deeds are not necessarily rewarded. Whether or not they are is as subject to chance as anything else. The Universe looks kindlier, perhaps, on those who do good deeds, but we cannot expect this.
Does that mean that we should not do good deeds? No. We should, however, not do good deeds for the sake of the reward we get. We should do good deeds because they are the right thing to do. Doing the right thing is a life aphorism that we should all keep to heart. It just makes life better for everyone.
”Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too much.”–John Wayne
One thing I have found, in life, was that I get into far more trouble for what I say, than I do for what I don’t say. I have tried, over the past few years, to teach myself to say as little as possible, and only speak when it is necessary. That is a good deed, with respect to the above. The less said, more often than not, the better it is for everyone.
“Musicians are one step closer to God than the rest of us.”–Cap Iverson
I have this theory, one that has no scientific basis, is unsupported, and cannot be proved, that musicians are closer to God. The theory goes like this:
The theory which describes the ultimate workings of the Universe is called Quantum Mechanics. Quantum Mechanics teaches us that everything is made of wave functions (you need a course in Quantum Mechanics to understand what a wave function is. Just take my word for this).
What that means, to me, is that the Universe is humming; there is a Universal sound created by these waves…and musicians are, subconsciously, tuned into these waves. They hear a music coming from the Universe, and spend their lives trying to duplicate this music. This music is the voice of God…and musicians hear it best.
“The people who don’t believe in the beauty of life are the defeated ones.”–Max Brand
I used to work on an Ambulance Corps, for my small town, and we would get one or two suicides a year. Suicide is a terrible thing. One looks back at the person, and wonders what torment that person went through, to bring him or her to the point where they feel that life has no meaning. One looks at oneself and wonders if there is something that could have been said to dissuade this person, or some action that one could have taken to make the person feel that they could confide in you. I have always felt that suicide is the ultimate level of selfishness. It hurts so many people.
No matter how dark things look, no matter how bad things are, there will be a tomorrow…and by killing oneself, one closes the door to the possibility that tomorrow could get better….or, if not better, different. Often people feel that if they loose all their money, they will be poor, and cannot stand the thought…or that no one loves them, no one will love them, ones goals in life will never be satisfied…life is change, however. Everything changes. No matter how many bad things have happened, good things happen too.
I have had my share of horrible things happen to me…but have always felt that I can surmount them. I am stubborn, and have never let anyone beat me. My glass is half-full, and I am the biggest optimist in the world.
“Joe, never feel guilty about having warm human feelings toward anyone.”–Ben Cartright, Bonanza
That says it all. One does not have to love everyone, but one shouldn’t be ashamed of loving someone, anyone.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things… than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.”–Theodore Roosevelt (turtle)
My mother has a saying, “like the turtle, you never get anyplace if you do not stick your neck out.” My corollary to that is “they can’t cut off your neck, if you don’t stick it out.”
What that means is that there is a safe way to conduct one’s life, and one that has a greater risk. One can live their life in a way that precludes great risk…but doing so also precludes great victory. Victories are possible, but they are small victories. The level of achievement is usually associated with the level of risk one is willing to take to gain that achievement.
“The real world is behind this one, and everything we see here is something like a shadow from that world.”–Black Elk
There are many of us who feel they are too educated, too smart, too knowledgeable to believe in God. They scorn those who profess belief in what cannot be observed, and hold science up to be the ultimate judge of reality.
I have often wondered how an intelligent person can believe that science is able to describe everything, when there is so much that science does not know. In truth, the creation of the Universe is beyond religion or science; both start their philosophy from that point on an article of faith. Why is one more valid than the other?
The easiest way to eat crow is while it’s still warm. The colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.
Admit that you are wrong quickly, and sincerely, whether it be to yourself or to others. The longer you wait, the less important that admission is.
Ride the horse in the direction it’s goin’.
This, in a nutshell, is the foundation of my philosophy of getting through life. Don’t row upstream, if you don’t have to. If you find that everything you do is hard, that there are obstacles put in your way in every direction you turn, that everything you attempt in order to accomplish a goal is hard, and harder as you get close to your goal, you are rowing upstream. Analyze your goals. Something is wrong, and it is better for you to sit down and figure out if what you are doing is really the right thing to do, or if there is another direction that is easier. While it sometimes happens that your goal is, in fact, valid, and the difficulties are part of achieving a very hard goal, more often than not, you are working too hard for something that is not worth it. Change direction.
And, finally:
Four rules of Western living:
1. Always tell the truth
2. Sing with passion
3. Work with laughter
4. Love with your heart