03/15/2024
After rodeoing for awhile I no longer see the standings as how much guys have won. I see much deeper than that. I see how the best have overcame losses, and the frustration of making mistakes. You see we don't back in there with a "roll the dice" mentality. It's not just a game we play. It's real life and it's hard. You have to like it hard. The guys that run out of money go home. And the guys that don't like it hard go home. I've went home. There are some guys that come back, and many don't. It's not a game of merely who can stand the longest. It's a game of who can fall down and stand back up again.
It's Not Just the Wins.
It's about who can drive all night to a morning slack, spending the last of the money he had saved back.
Head back home to the practice pen, working colts and odd jobs to save up again.
It's a dream, it's an itch, it's a thing he must do. It's running the race. It's inching your way through.
It's bloody hands, a sweaty brow, the tears from highs and lows. The ones that motivate you, both your friends and your foes.
Some call it insanity and others call it genius. I think it's both that are constantly driving us.
Being naive to the sacrifice that it takes, so we don't give up after our early mistakes.
And knowing deep down that you reap what you sow, when everything says quit you go, go, go.
You go till both your body and your mind fail, till people say convincingly, "You really should bail. Your wasting your time and money, I think you should stop. You never had what it takes to get to the top."
But some have your back. They believe in your dream. Saying, "I'll stoke the fire while you're building up steam."
Through the bug-stained windshield I watch the sun rise. And thank you Savior for the real prize.
You ran your race already knowing your end. But you bled, and died, and rose up again.
What really matters is not just the win. It's running your race and not giving in.
It's the race set before you whatever your walk. It's doing your job, not just talking the talk.
May I be your hands and may I be your feet. The salt of the earth. No fear of defeat.
Doing my best each day I live. As dirty rags beside yours, my life I give.
