This time of year, for some people, is their favorite time of year with Christmas get togethers or New Year’s celebrations.
For others it is stressful and for some sad. Some people look around at all these other families getting together and they feel alone. And for others it is simply stressful trying to buy all the right gifts or getting ready to entertain.
For others it is a sad time as they don’t have the money to do for their family what others are able to do. And then there is the stress of year-end bills and often interest payments for which the rates have more than doubled in the past two years.
And with all the chaos going on in the world it can make you wonder how the United States will actually be free. I hear other Christians who feel we are getting closer to the end of time and for Jesus’ return. And for others they do not even believe that will ever happen.
I think for all of us it is important to strive to be happy. And you have a lot of influence on others happiness depending on your attitude. I hate to be around negative people. Take a look at yourself and ask—How do people look at me? Am I enjoyable and fun to be around or am I a pain in the rear always trying to drag others down to my miserable level?
This year’s cattle market has been quite a ride. How do you go from $162 February fat cattle to $196 then back to $162? Or March feeders topped $270 in the middle of September and by Dec. 7 back to $210. It boils down to the people who have the money control the market. It’s been that way for 100 years.
This past week there was a whole table full of cowboys sitting for breakfast. Then one cowboy mentioned a single lady and said to me, “You ought to go for her then you wouldn’t have to come in here for breakfast. You’d have a wife that would fix breakfast for you at home.”
I looked around and every one of them were married so I reminded him—“I don’t see any of you eating at home.”
A friend of mine was in the doctor’s office for an esophagus problem. The doctor gave him something to knock him out. And just before he fell asleep the doctor said, “Have you had a colonoscopy before?” He remembers saying to the doctor, “No, I guess go ahead but can you use a different probe?”
What the world needs now more than ever is Christmas. And keep in mind there is one thing and one thing only that will matter when you take your final breath.
Editor’s note: The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent the view of High Plains Journal. Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
