Hearing but not LISTENING!!

     I got to thinking the other day about how we can listen but not hear, actually I read a post on how this person's dad had challenged them to 'live a while in their shoes'.  We've heard that often but don't take into consideration what good advice it is.  I was out with my son's dog 'Cap' and we were moving 'a', one horse to a another pasture.  Now had I looked at it like a dog might, what an inviting target  :)  I get to chase this cuz she's not watching :)  more smiles for the dog.  However, on my side of the shoes, all I saw was a horse going too fast toward a barbed wire fence and a dog that wasn't listening.  :( I knew he could hear me cuz he hadn't gotten that far away, also no wind blowing (just for the record).  When I did get his attention we had to have a little session on listening to the boss and responding to what he heard!!  The rest of the day Cap was all ears and listened & heard what I was telling him.  I didn't even have to raise my voice because he had tuned in to me and my requests.  He was listening and hearing and responding.  More smiles to the boss lady!!

     Then a couple days ago, I saw this same approach when we moved yearling heifers to a new pasture.  Rancher Hubby Cash was leading them with the tractor and hay bales and I was encouraging the stragglers horseback.  It was a nice day, a little windy (but that's normal for Nebraska) so it looked like I wouldn't have much to do.  Now we were headed across a field and they were pretty hungry, so they were following the tractor really well.  The tractor usually stops and grinds up the hay, and their walk is pretty short.  They were expecting the same today.  When we got to the edge of the field they suddenly found fresh grass, what a huge distraction.

Since the tractor hadn't stopped and ground their hay, they all started eating the grass they had found.  If your wondering where I'm going with this - keep listening, don't tune me out just yet!!  I wanted to tie this back to where our country is today.  In 2008, we were headed toward an election and there had been a couple new things mentioned but mostly America as a country was still on track.  However later that fall, we started to hear about what we could have and how bad things were.  As a country we got distracted from the main message, how to protect our country and help business grow.  

     Now back to our yearling heifers - by the time we had gotten over this first hill, they had decided that the tractor was not what they wanted to listen to.  Now they all could still hear the tractor, but they chose to walk toward what appeared to be a better option.  The grass they found at this windmill was some of the first green grass of spring.  Because it is so early and so fresh, it has very little nutrients in it.  There's no 'meat' in what they wanted to eat.  Notice that the majority of the herd have stopped and are eating grass.  This was a very short term gain for the heifers.  We couldn't leave them here because the grass wouldn't sustain them.  It couldn't last.  Think about what we heard as a country in 2008 - what we had wasn't good enough, our economy was suffering and we could be 'given' better.  Just what most of America wanted to hear.  Let's look at things in the short term, we want whatever the government can 'give' us no matter the cost to future generations.  These heifers could have stayed right here and ate this green grass .... but they would have been starved and wandering by mid day.  It took quite a bit of hazing on my part to get them to even consider following the tractor again.  

We did manage to get them to listen to the tractor again and get over the last two knolls, but it took quite a bit of pushing on my part, so much for an easy day!!  As I topped the last hill, Nobody was listening to anything (except maybe my horse -I had asked that he stand still!!)

This picture makes me think of Congress today.  Everyone is running, doing whatever they think is right, no one is listening to anyone.  Dems don't hear Republicans, Republicans don't hear Democrats.  NO ONE is listening to what their constituents at home are asking for.  Congress is on a runaway train toward national bankruptcy, granting whatever people want with no foresight into what it will cost our children.  We may, as a country, be getting a taste of 'green grass' but it is a short term craving, the long term cost is our children's and their children's future.  

     I was in DC early this month and was so discouraged at the lack of any one listening to any one else.  Because so little is based on agreeable terms for both parties, the balance has been broken and we are headed in the wrong direction, just like the heifers in the picture.  Back to my son's dog - because he was tuned in I didn't have to yell to be heard.  Today I attended my first Tea Party Express rally in North Platte, NE.  In my opinion, because congress and our president have lost the ability to listen to the people, 'we the people' are learning to 'yell' back at them.  The folks that attended this rally are not violent, militant, racist or extremists.  They are the people of America who are tired of not being heard.  When you're not heard you have a tendency to raise your voice and when that doesn't work - well....  YOU YELL!!!  I plan on using my vote in 2010 and encouraging others to holler with me.  

Sorry I got into politics... but it's a part of my life - I WANT TO BE HEARD!!!   r u listening.....