Although I have never been accused of having a “happy-go-lucky” kind of personality, I consider myself to be luckier than most.  Most of my hardships were self inflicted and in turn resulted into HUGE positives.  Things like DUI, early parenthood, one bad eye, etc. turned out to be just road bumps that resulted in a better job, a wife of 20+ years and glasses that have one lense thicker than the other.  Most of those stories won’t be told on here, but catch me in the right mood when I am sitting on an ice chest and…..

      How am I lucky?  I have a good family and Tammy has a good family.  We have problems, but they are our problems.  I was lucky to be around all of my grandparents.  My kids have had extensive involvement with all of their grandparents as well as several great-grandparents.  Tammy has a really good relationship with her brother and sister-in-law and a pair of cool nieces. I have a pair of brothers that have really good wives with some neat prospects on the ground (they are just now getting to be old enough to see if they are cool or not–the two girls, I’m pretty sure will be alright.  The boy–he has a lot of fun chopping wood.  He acts like his dad.  Scary.)

      I’m lucky because we have been able to raise our kids with a strong family group.  Then, throw in the extensive group of friends and I feel very lucky.  Most of our family has an agricultural background.  A large percentage of our friends have strong ties to agriculture.  Although, I enjoy winning a stock show, it is more important to raise kids in a highly competitive environment that truly teaches the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat and most importantly, traits like work ethic, friendship, common sense, how to help others, sportsmanship and how to have fun.  

     I am lucky because I got to spend 15 years in a career that was exactly the career path I chose.  I grew up wanting to be an ag teacher.  All 15 years were educational and I don’t wish to change any of it, including the exit.  How many people get to have a job doing exactly what they wanted to do?

     I’m lucky to have family, friends, co-workers, customers, rivals, etc. that remind me that it isn’t always about the $, having fun, winning, whatever.  I’ve got others that try to teach me to make $s anytime you get a chance.   And yet others that worry that I might have too much fun at times.  But all of them respect hard work, a job well done and the fact that it could be worse.  

      Feeling lucky has nothing to do with money.  Has nothing to do with winning stuff.  I feel lucky just knowing that if something happens to me, my kids, my wife, my family will be fine.  I hope everybody has that feeling.  Just knowing that it will be fine makes one feel lucky.

Play hard.

Work hard.

Pray harder.