The Why

I grew up raising pigs for shows, every year picking some out and hoping to make it to the final drive. Yes, it is awesome to continually get to go back out and to compete with the animal you spent months working on and showing off your hard work. The final drive, the handshake from the judge... It makes the endless nights of measuring out feed, brushing your pigs, and cleaning out pens that much better knowing you earned this and did your best. Today it seems that so many people are too caught up in winning that they forget why they are doing it, why they started, and why they continue to do it.

I love winning just as much as the next person, but it seems as if everyone is so caught up in the ribbons that they don't care about helping anyone else. They forget that at one time they needed help too but now they're the leaders of the pig barn. I started doing it because I had so much fun raising pigs that they became my favorite animal, they were silly and smart and could be trained like a dog. Learning that I could train one to walk with me in a show ring at the fair in front of tons of people made it that much more fun, like hey look what I can do. I spent the summer making this pig look this good with hair products and different kinds of feed and supplement rations to make my pig look like this to win. I continue to do it because I love the excitement of shows, and meeting new people, and getting to show this animal that I worked with for so long and have a blast while doing it...winning just makes it even better.

I love seeing parents who are just as into it as the kids, but it pains me seeing the parents doing the work for the kids who don't really care. We need to keep in mind that we are doing this for them, for them to grow up the way we did. Learning hard work and seeing hard work pay off, showing us why we work hard and wake up early everyday. Things are not just handed out and this is the perfect way to learn that because you can grow up working for something and learning everyday. If you're not having fun and loving it, it seems pointless to do it. I believe that people forget about their why and they get too wrapped up in the competition and forget to sit back and look at the next generation of showman. My point is that not everyone can win every year, and that's not what it is all about, as long as you have that why, you will keep coming back and thats when you start to win. I love helping people and sharing my experiences which is another one of my whys, and why I continue to work hard in this industry and work to help people find pigs for them and find their why.