Originally written for Nevada Rancher
An older cowboy friends of ours always says “you’re building your resume” after doing something really ballsy on the ranch…or after a long day. It might include working some places you’ll never return to. Resume building is also code for building character. Resume building is all about staying through until that particular job is complete. And finally, resume building is all about gaining experience.
I always found his words funny and comforting in some strange way. Probably because I’m such a list maker and thrive on accomplishments. If I felt I had wasted the day because we put cattle in a trap to work them the next morning, only to find that someone forgot to check the West gate and they all….did you hear me right…ALL… made a mad dash for the mesa and we had to gather them again. This is an examples where this saying comes in handy. “You’re just building your resume”…
Do you think we ever did that again? No, every gate, and I mean every gate, whether it takes thirty minutes or two hours has since that day been checked. Resume building equals, I learned from that dummy mistake and I will try my best not to repeat.
Sometimes we learn how not to do something and at other times we say…”toss me that empty feedsack Ethel..I got a grand idea and I gotta jot it down”. Either way it is tossed into the pickup beds of our minds…stored away to draw upon when needed.
It’s there somewhere anyways, among lug wretches, come-a- longs, a broken valve from the trough, the broken axe handle, and a chewed up rope from the pup you bought last spring. But no denying it’s there…and when the time is right and you’re ask to work at that next ranch, or daywork for the neighbor down the road…you shall dig for the resume to see if it’s a go or a no. If it’s a lesson learned or if it’s time to do some more building. Besides, gathering wild cattle on the border might be fun. It might not but when the day is done…it too will be added to your ever growing resume.
You see we all build something, we all build our resume in one form or another. We build lives, we build families, companies, churches, character, integrity, friendships. We build reputations. Many people build resumes that will last for years and will be talked about for generations to come.
Those strong and courageous, the daring, the pioneer, the inventor, the risk taker. The generous and the reliable. The one who made something old new and the one who was a wealth of knowledge. How about the story teller or the woman who made the best rolls this side of the Pecos. Although the rolls are over the top delicious, we all know it’s because part of her heart was baked right in there with them.
Who are you? Are you the one with the open door, the neighbor that pulls up with a hot meal when your friend just got out of the hospital. The one that paid the electric bill for the family that’s down on their luck. Are you the one that helps the struggling kid with his math homework, or show up with the tractor to help get crops in before yet another rain.
Does your resume look like the character of what you want to leave behind or does it just look like a character? You see we all build resumes, we all build…..but it’s not so much about the job, the ranch, the cows, or bulls. It’s not so much about the long day and regathering the cattle that made their dash to the Mesa. It’s about who’s in our resume. Who is watching our lives? Who is the next to build that’s following your example? It’s really about the people along the way.
I will leave you will this…the simplest Words but the most important ones written.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.”
And in doing that…your resume will be one to which you are sure to hear…
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Thank you for reading….thecowboypastorswife
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.