Broken Bow Ranch

02/09/2025

You are the greatest project you will ever work on! Thanks Lee and Keystone Equine!

“You are the greatest project you will ever work on.”

I first read this comment, made by another member of an online healthy lifestyle group, to which I belong. She was encouraging someone who was struggling, with a wonderfully heartfelt message but it was her closing sentence that really captured me.

“You are the greatest project you will ever work on.” For it bears repeating… again. And again.

Who else among us puts herself last? Silences her objections, continues on even when she has had enough, or her body is bone tired? Who questions things in her heart, with wholly valid doubts and yet, follows directions to do this same thing, all the while knowing that it does not serve? Who eats her feelings? Who talks herself out of striving for a happier life, even when she deserves so much more?

Who is known as the peacekeeper at work, or in the family? Who is trying to survive abuse, or a toxic work environment, without falling apart? Who is desperately trying to keep her head above water, lying await at night worrying about money? Who puts every single person, animal and problem before nourishing, resting and listening to herself? Who is really, really, really worrying about her grown children?

I have used the feminine here but man, woman or child, it could be any one of us.

So, read that first line again. Out loud… and this time, I beg of you to mean it. Believe in it.

If this was someone else in need, you would have nothing but compassion. You would hold out your hand. You would smile and dry that person’s tears. You would do everything in your power to help. You would give her the overstuffed, slumpy chair with the footstool. You would bring her a cup of tea in your Granny’s best piece of china.

You would not tell her to toughen up, to stop feeling, to grow a backbone, to hide her tears. You would not say that she was a loser, or an embarrassment. You would never, ever tell her to give up all hope, or say that she wasn’t worth it!

Why not? Because such words are horribly unkind and because we know better. We know that anything that demeans another good person cannot possibly be true.

So, dear reader, why do we do what we do? Why is it so hard to show ourselves any love?

02/09/2025

Ernest Hemingway once wrote: The hardest lesson I have had to learn as an adult is the relentless need to keep going, no matter how broken I feel inside.

This truth is raw, unfiltered, and painfully universal. Life doesn’t stop when we are exhausted, when our hearts are shattered, or when our spirits feel threadbare. It keeps moving—unyielding, indifferent—demanding that we keep pace. There is no pause button for grief, no intermission for healing, no moment where the world gently steps aside and allows us to mend. Life expects us to carry our burdens in silence, to push forward despite the weight of all we carry inside.

The cruelest part? No one really prepares us for this. As children, we are fed stories of resilience wrapped in neat, hopeful endings—tales where pain has purpose and every storm clears to reveal a bright horizon. But adulthood strips away those comforting illusions. It teaches us that survival is rarely poetic. More often than not, it’s about showing up when you’d rather disappear, smiling through pain no one sees, and carrying on despite feeling like you're unraveling from the inside out.

And yet, somehow, we persevere. That’s the quiet miracle of being human. Even when life is relentless, even when hope feels distant, we keep moving. We stumble, we break, we fall to our knees—but we get up. And in doing so, we uncover a strength we never knew we had. We learn to comfort ourselves in the ways we wish others would. We become the voice of reassurance we once searched for. Slowly, we realize that resilience isn’t always about grand acts of bravery; sometimes, it’s just a whisper—“Keep going.”

Yes, it’s exhausting. Yes, it’s unfair. And yes, there are days when the weight of it all feels unbearable. But every small step forward is proof that we haven’t given up. That we are still fighting, still holding on, still refusing to let the darkness consume us. That quiet defiance—choosing to exist, to try, to hope—is the bravest thing we can do.
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What’s the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn as an adult, and how has it shaped you?

02/08/2025

02/07/2025

Who else needed to see this?

02/07/2025

Here’s some criterion for you.

02/07/2025

Do It Now

02/06/2025

Great day at the clinic with Murphy and .
I have my oxygen today that I should have had yesterday.
And yes Russel Dilday if ‘widowmaker’ had gotten me you could have my cool Schaeffer Outfitter vest! 🤣
That was not the end of my ‘adventure’ will post later about that! Your pointers were spot on!

01/31/2025

💙 Five Years Without Kobe

Five years ago, we lost one of the most incredible athletes the world will ever know—Kobe Bryant. His relentless pursuit of excellence on the court was unmatched, but perhaps his greatest gift was his understanding of the value of time.

Kobe reminded us in every interview how precious time is—not just to outwork the competition, but to invest in others, to inspire, and to truly appreciate the moment.

One of his most famous quotes resonates even more today: “The biggest mistake we make is thinking we have time.”

We only get one life. It’s short. Use it to chase greatness, be the best version of yourself, and inspire others to dream bigger, just like Kobe did.

01/29/2025

OPEN OPEN OPEN
WEDNESDAY JAN 22ND 11am to 9pm

103 N KAUFMAN STREET
SEAGOVILLE TX 75159

945.284.4363 CALL IN ORDERS!

01/22/2025

This is Amber. She dragged out the garbage bags and the laundry baskets and stood for five full minutes in the door of her dear son’s closet, wondering a lot of things that started with “what the hell…”
“…was I thinking when I bought that?”
“…did he do with all the clothes I JUST bought him?”
“…did I keep that for nine years for?”
“…did my mother keep that for 39 years for?”
“…is that smell?”
After three hours of home organization podcasts, four full garbage bags of outgrown clothes ranging from 2T to 7/8, two bags she has labeled trash that will not be opened under any circumstances, she’s found the floor, nine forks, five spoons, her missing potato masher, and the source of the smell. Thank you, Maria! 📸 Janie VanWinkle - See Jane Ranch

01/22/2025

https://youtube.com/shorts/iPHFNj9sP4E?si=v_AgVAxcDlaWn1Ax

What do we think of Quincy the Quirky Quacker 🦆