Take Your Blinders Off

What do a sheriff, a bandit, and a reality show have to do with ranchgrownlogic?

It all started simple enough. It had been a good day, a full day not unlike any other. I had left work late and was headed home with the sun setting in the West over my shoulder, my radio was turned on high, and I settled in for the drive home.

It’s a short 20 minutes, depending on road conditions, today the time seemed to slip by. My mind was wondering back and forth about work, family, and a million other thoughts as I made my way down the road.  I was looking forward to roping that evening, a little time in the saddle, for those of you who ride know what I mean, it’s good for the soul.

I don’t know if this happens to you but my mind was still racing from the day’s activities and was dancing from one thought to another as I tried to unwind from the busy day.

I love my truck, I call it Big Red Truck, a Dodge dually that commands the road and has earned a reputation of its own among my friends and family. I was rolling along when just down the road ahead of me on the horizon was my home. I could see the arena from the road, and I could see my family out at the barn, a sigh of relief came over me as the stress of the day seemed to melt away, I  was home…time to  rope!

I turned my blinker on and adjusted my seat to look in my rear view mirror. Dang, there he was a cop, lights and all. I really was not sure why, I must have been speeding, but for whatever reason I was being pulled over, right in front of my house, and worse than that with everyone watching.

I knew I was going to get teased over this one; I could hear them already in my head. Oh well, I thought I will take what’s coming …I just could not believe I just got stopped right in front of my house with family watching.

They had heard something from the barn, a siren racing towards the direction of our home. They looked to the road to see what was happening. What in the world? Over the mound in the road barreling down the road was BIG RED TRUCK followed by lights a flashing, siren a blaring, and a sheriff in high pursuit. They did not know what was going on but it had to be big, it was mom, what the heck?

Meanwhile, in front of the house, I had stopped the truck and started to roll down my window. “Get that smirk off your face, he commanded, get out of the truck I have a gun drawn on you.”

Ok, now that’s not funny, what the heck? Sad part was I did not even realize I had been speeding. I wear hearing aids, Pete and Repeat, and obviously they had let me down with the radio on high. My thoughts had been at work, home, and my eyes fixated in the road ahead, I did not see him for 3 long miles. I was speeding 20 mph over speed limit…. But I did not stop, I had not seen him. He thought I had stolen the truck.

“Get, out of that truck now, and put your hands on the tailgate.” What are you hiding in that truck” nothing I said, “I just wanted to get home.” “You have been speeding since town, why didn’t you stop?” “Well, I said, I ‘m sorry; I just wanted to get home, I did not realize I was speeding.” “Stay here he said, I called in reinforcements, I need to call them off.”

The sun was in my eyes and I know I squinted and trying to see if what he said was really true, an unbelievable moment was about to get real as everything seemed to go into slow motion.

I thought to myself, holy smoke, imagining if the reinforcements had showed up coming from the other direction, I know I would have wondered what was happening, never dreaming they would be looking for me!

Luckily my family never saw him with the gun drawn, as my husband came around the corner at a fast pace, he said “what’s going on here?” The sheriff told him and he set out to find my papers etc in the truck. Around the other side of the house came my son, dressed as he always does, western shirt, corporate patches, and packing a rope.

My husband was struggling as he tried to locate the papers, “they are here he said, I put them in there.” My son was standing on the road with us now, spinning his rope to one the side of him as if we was about to throw an underhand loop, “what’s going on he said?” I said something and then he told the sheriff, “she can’t hear”, well that made the sheriff mad again and told my son to step back or, “I will site you for impeding an investigation.” So literally he stepped back one step on to our lawn but continued to swing his rope as he watched the sage unfold.

A little late to the action, my daughter made her way around the corner of the house. She found a lawn chair picked it up and set it in the middle of the lawn, and sat down, crossed her legs, and proceeded to watch the reality show play out.

I am convinces everything happens for a reason. I was to be taught a lesson. Along with the importance of safety on the road is also a lesson for life and business.

We can get so wrapped up in “the now and our own worlds” that we fail to see what is around us in the moment.

A good idea for example can come from anywhere, but if we lock in and become to focused we can miss out on the beauty alongside the road, or the opportunity to take a idea from good, to better, or even great if we would only take the blinders off.

And as for my family, I love them all for their support when I was in trouble  in my ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ kind of moment. We laughed, not at what I had done, but at ourselves, you can’t make this stuff up.

As for me and Big Red Truck we will keep on trucking… eyes wide open, lesson learned!

• Good ideas can come from anywhere
• Be aware of your surroundings
• Be willing to engage over ideas
• Learn to live in the moment.