C is for challenge. Life in general is a challenge. “C” is also for critical. As we deal with the challenges of life, some things are critical, such as putting your energy, anger and emotions toward the event at hand rather than splattering friends and family members who are working with you.
D is for determination. I once lit the fuse of determination for a young man who was struggling with a repair issue on his truck engine. The spark that lit that fuse was a simple question: “Why do you think the guys who made this are smarter than you are?”
E is for effort, enthusiasm, energy and encouragement.
F is for fair. Life, in general is not fair. There are times that life feels like a weirdo show at the county fair.
G is for genuine. When you try to encourage someone, they need to feel like you really mean it. A real friend is genuine. They know all about you and love you anyway. One of these is who you should marry.
H is for hero. You are someone’s hero. You probably don’t know who. Don’t destroy their hero by your poor judgment and actions.
I is for intelligence. Intelligence does not mean knowing a lot of facts. It means knowing how and where to get answers and information, and how to put those to good use.
J is for just. Not as in, “Just a minute,” but as in the root word from which “justice” comes.
K is for kind. Directions given to modify behavior fly better when delivered with kindness.
L is for love, and for louse. Life will go better if you can avoid falling in love with a louse – of either gender. Look in the mirror from time to time to be sure that you are not the louse someone has fallen in love with.
M is for moo. My daughter’s walking route takes her past a cattle pasture. She told me that she can “moo” at the cows and sometimes they will come running and follow her down the fence line, sharing “moos” all the way.
N is for no. Every young girl needs to know how to say it and every young man needs to understands what it means. Parents need to realize that it’s much easier to teach a child what “no” means when they are 2 than when they are 16.
O is for opportunity.
P is for perfect. You are not, so don’t expect the rest of the world to be perfect either.
Q is for quest. If you don’t have a quest in life, something you are working to accomplish, then you may as well be seated in a galvanized round bathtub floating down the middle of a river with no paddles, rudder or sail. Everyone can make a difference to someone.
R is for reality. When the reality of weather prevents you from putting up nice, green hay, some can still manage to put it up so that it’s palatable to cattle. The reality of grower skill is that there are hay growers out there who cannot put up a nice palatable product even when the weather has been perfect.
S is for simple. The stage of maturity at which a forage is harvested has more to do with its feed value than any other factor. Can anything be more simple?
T is for trust. You look for people you can trust. You need to be able to trust your seed salesman, your fertilizer guy, your implement dealer, just to name a few. You need to be able to trust the people you sell hay to. They need to be able to trust you to have a quality product that is free of surprises.
U is for understand. If your helper understands what he needs to do and understands how to do it, there is a much better chance of it happening.
V is for verb. A verb is an action word. They do all the work. If someone is asked to describe you using only one word, it is a good thing if the word they choose is a verb.
W is for luck. Most people spell it “work.”
X is for excel. Whatever you do, do it well. Word will spread.
Y is for yourself. Take care of yourself, because if you are not strong, you cannot help anyone else.
Z is for zest. That’s the spice in life. Taking five minutes to stop the tractor at the end of the row and just marvel at the beauty of a sunrise. And then share what you feel with those who love you most, so they know who you really are. FG
