Lesson from the cows

One of my favorite jobs on the farm is shoveling cow manure. This is not what I expected.

Manure is stinky and disgusting, and something you just have to put up with and get rid of, right? That’s what I used to think. But over the past few years, I started to see it differently. Shoveling manure taught me to appreciate my mistakes and failures; I’ll tell you why.

Manure is a waste product that can either become a big problem, or it can turn into the famed black gold you’ve heard about. It all depends on how you manage it. If not managed properly, manure accumulation can become toxic to the land, plants and animals living on it, including us, humans. On the other hand, when composted properly, and given enough time to break down, manure can generate incredible soil fertility, and soil fertility is the basis of health for plants, animals and all of us.

For me, shoveling manure is like dealing with life’s unwanted aspects: mistakes, failures, losses, things that didn’t work out the way we hoped, or anything else that brings us pain, shame or a sense of failure. All of those things can become toxic, if not handled properly. They can cause us to become sour, angry, vengeful, numb, etc, and thus continue creating more suffering in ourselves and others.

However, when handled properly, and most importantly, when given enough time to “compost”, or transform, all that stuff that we think of as unwanted, can become a wonderful source of growth. It can become the seed bed, the fertile ground for our understanding, generosity, compassion, and other things that enrich ourselves and others.

So for me, every day, as I clean up the manure in the barn, I think about this, and there’s a quiet excitement and joy in knowing that I am contributing in a small way, to this great conversion from waste to renewed life.

This is what I learned from the cows: that nothing is ever wasted. Isn't that liberating?

That's Aiyana and Jasmine a week ago.

Peace