The first few years I lived in the Philippines I became obsessed with goats. My husband and I lived right up the mountain from a goat farmer and everyday I'd go down to the fence line and say hello to the nanny goat I named Big Mama and whatever other goats happened to pass me by.
I enjoyed pulling leaves down for Big Mama, watching the kids grow, and just simply watching the goat herds walk around the pasture and graze. There is something so peaceful, almost meditative about it.
On my 34th birthday my husband said I could have my very own goat. We went to the local livestock market and I walked around looking for "the one." The goat who would be my familiar - my loving, stinky, curious, hilarious familiar.
I looked and looked and looked. Sellers came up to me - "How about this one, ma'am?" No. "This one?" No, no, no.
But then I saw him. This little bearded, maybe one year old goat with the sweetest eyes and cutest face and he was looking right at me. "That's the one!"
I sat in the truck bed with him, happy as a peach that I was finally a goat mama.
Four years later, Ezra is no longer that little bearded baby. He's now a strapping buck with a long, bushy beard who has fathered two lots of kids (6 in all). I adore watching him, the nannies, and the little ones - the goat dynamics and hilarity (and sometimes strangeness) that ensues.
I enjoyed pulling leaves down for Big Mama, watching the kids grow, and just simply watching the goat herds walk around the pasture and graze. There is something so peaceful, almost meditative about it.
On my 34th birthday my husband said I could have my very own goat. We went to the local livestock market and I walked around looking for "the one." The goat who would be my familiar - my loving, stinky, curious, hilarious familiar.
I looked and looked and looked. Sellers came up to me - "How about this one, ma'am?" No. "This one?" No, no, no.
But then I saw him. This little bearded, maybe one year old goat with the sweetest eyes and cutest face and he was looking right at me. "That's the one!"
I sat in the truck bed with him, happy as a peach that I was finally a goat mama.
Four years later, Ezra is no longer that little bearded baby. He's now a strapping buck with a long, bushy beard who has fathered two lots of kids (6 in all). I adore watching him, the nannies, and the little ones - the goat dynamics and hilarity (and sometimes strangeness) that ensues.
I've spent many hours watching goats just do their thing, and one thing I've noticed quite a bit is that they know nothing about gratitude.
You may have seen it as some point in your life - a goat with its head stuck through the fence, trying to get to the piece of grass just on the other side. Never mind that it has a full lot of brush and greenery easily within its reach. All it would have to do is turn around and look.
I've witnessed Ezra doing this. Literally standing in a lush pile of food and ignoring it in pursuit of what I can only assume is the "greener grass on the other side."
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Humans are kind of like goats in that we don't always see what we're already blessed with because we're too focused on getting to the other side or grabbing that piece of whatever is just out of reach.
We'll often be sitting smack in the middle of a bountiful garden, but wishing for something else or complaining about the insect that chomps on that one leaf.
"If only it weren't for that one insect, life would be better."
"If only these roses were yellow instead of red."
"I wish I could sit under that tree on the other side of the gate."
There's nothing wrong with hoping, wishing, dreaming, and attaining goals, but let's not overlook what we already have at our fingertips. Let's not neglect the flowers already blooming in our gardens. Let's taste the sweetness flowing from the fountain of here and now.
You may have seen it as some point in your life - a goat with its head stuck through the fence, trying to get to the piece of grass just on the other side. Never mind that it has a full lot of brush and greenery easily within its reach. All it would have to do is turn around and look.
I've witnessed Ezra doing this. Literally standing in a lush pile of food and ignoring it in pursuit of what I can only assume is the "greener grass on the other side."
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Humans are kind of like goats in that we don't always see what we're already blessed with because we're too focused on getting to the other side or grabbing that piece of whatever is just out of reach.
We'll often be sitting smack in the middle of a bountiful garden, but wishing for something else or complaining about the insect that chomps on that one leaf.
"If only it weren't for that one insect, life would be better."
"If only these roses were yellow instead of red."
"I wish I could sit under that tree on the other side of the gate."
There's nothing wrong with hoping, wishing, dreaming, and attaining goals, but let's not overlook what we already have at our fingertips. Let's not neglect the flowers already blooming in our gardens. Let's taste the sweetness flowing from the fountain of here and now.
BONUS LESSON FROM A BABY GOAT:
Eve was born on December 31, 2019. She was the littlest of all the newborns, and for a bit I was nervous that she might not make it. But boy did she prove me wrong, all while teaching a life lesson.
Sometimes we have to find our legs.
Although physically small, Eve didn't let her stature keep her from playing with the other, bigger kids. She saw them jumping, so she'd jump, but her legs got wobbly and she'd fall and sometimes roll over with her little hooves sticking up in the air. It didn't stop her. She'd roll back over, get up, and try again. Doing so made her legs stronger.
Jump, fall, roll, run, over and over and over again.
Through persistence, and the sheer desire to have fun, Eve found her legs.
And let me tell you, she found them! Not so long ago I saw this 4 month old goat parkour off my fence like it was nothing.
The simple lesson in this story...
Don't. Give. Up.
Now don't let anyone ever tell you that a goat can't teach you something about life. :)
Eve was born on December 31, 2019. She was the littlest of all the newborns, and for a bit I was nervous that she might not make it. But boy did she prove me wrong, all while teaching a life lesson.
Sometimes we have to find our legs.
Although physically small, Eve didn't let her stature keep her from playing with the other, bigger kids. She saw them jumping, so she'd jump, but her legs got wobbly and she'd fall and sometimes roll over with her little hooves sticking up in the air. It didn't stop her. She'd roll back over, get up, and try again. Doing so made her legs stronger.
Jump, fall, roll, run, over and over and over again.
Through persistence, and the sheer desire to have fun, Eve found her legs.
And let me tell you, she found them! Not so long ago I saw this 4 month old goat parkour off my fence like it was nothing.
The simple lesson in this story...
Don't. Give. Up.
Now don't let anyone ever tell you that a goat can't teach you something about life. :)
