Be Humble in Your Approach

Growing up in a time when towns in Arizona were smaller is something I will always cherish. It was a much simpler time and a much slower pace.  I started Cowboying for different ranchers when I was in my teens and one truth that made itself drastically clear, I hated working cattle. Horses on the other hand were a different story. I would ride colts all day for any outfit and went on a quest to learn all I could about working these amazing creatures. There was no lack of old cowboys to gain knowledge from and they were as vastly different from each other as the animals I wanted to learn about. Sans one common denominator, every one of them was an ornery, crotchety, cranky old cadger. And yes, both the horses and the cowboys. I was fortunate that I figured out very fast what was what, they were ornery because they had a limited tolerance for bullshit. To many came to them to learn what they had to teach and showed no respect for what it took to acquire this life time of knowledge. I figured out if you are humble in your approach and show proper respect, you can gain a lot from those who came before you. I spent time riding colts, working rope horses and working for veterinarians. I loved every minute of it made almost no money at it. I acquired a great deal of information and that is priceless to me.  I get a lot of young guys who come and seek what I have learned about guns, horses and tracking, guess what, I am a grumpy ole curmudgeon who just shakes his head and laughs. I have a limited tolerance for bullshit. Best I can tell you, be humble in your approach.

Being a Dad instead of a father

Today while checking out Facebook, I noticed a post by a friend of mine. Like me he is a single Dad and a good one at that. He mentioned seeing another dad at a restaurant with his kid, the child was asking dad for help, but not getting it as dad was too busy on his phone. This led into a discussion about lousy fathers. They piss me off, if you’re going to have kids, be a dad, it’s your damn responsibility. So this got me to thinking, maybe these crappy dads don’t know how to be dads, society is taking a big dump and if these guys didn’t have someone to teach them they may be lost. So I thought about my core life principals that I have tried to pass on to my kids and I think it may be useful to others.

1    1.      Be their Dad, not their Friend, set expectations and consequences, show them how to make good choices. Be in their life actively.

2    2.       Take them camping, every kid should experience a night out in the woods looking at the stars smelling a camp fire and making s’mores. Teach them to put up the tent, build the fire, cook their own food and shit in the woods. Life lessons!

3    3.       Shoot a gun, responsibly! Yes, I said it, education is key and there are greater lessons to be learned from this but that’s another post.

4    4.       Ride a horse, every kid should experience this, it sets the soul free and sparks a bond with something bigger than one’s self.

5    5.       Shoot a bow and arrow, let them learn to focus and see outside themselves, be one with the arrow. Yes, I just said that.

6    6.       Catch a fish. This is a great way to teach so many things and spend quality time talking and disconnected from the rest of the world.

7    7.       Teach them to live by a code, to learn right from wrong. It can be any code, mine Is the 7 virtues, a warrior code.

a.       Honor

b.       Courage

c.       Benevolence

d.       Justice

e.       Respect

f.        Honesty

g.       Loyalty

8    8.       Build work ethic in them from an early age, teach them the value of money and time.

9    9.       Go on adventures, teach them to be explorers, pirates, cowboys, soldiers, and astronauts. Inspire the desire to live life not just be content with it. Inspire them to see the great country we live in, it’s a vast outdoor world. Mountains, plains, canyons and rivers, teach them to be comfortable out in the elements, to hunt, to survive, to live.

1    10.   Teach them to be men, even if they are your daughters. Men protect themselves and others, they fight for what is right and do not stand idly by while others do harm. There is a great deal they can learn from martial arts. Above all, be an example!

To Blog or not to blog.....yea, that's original!

I have thought about starting this for a long time, and so it begins. Let me introduce myself. I am a Desert Rat living at the base of the Goldfield mountains in Arizona, a blue collar Dad, Firearms instructor, and Government employee. Trying my best to scratch out a living in this crappy economy, but fear not, I am a survivor and always come out on top. I am trying to teach my kids to out think the life that is influencing them everyday, the path that the world is showing them is sometimes a lot more appealing than the one I am trying to get them to choose...such is parenting! don't expect perfect spelling!