Posts Tagged: Don't have a cow

“You’re Not a Cow, Man!”

On July 22, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Don’t have a cow, man!” (Bart Simpson)

“You’re not a cow, man!” (Down to Earth Believer)

In our twelve-step meeting this morning, someone proposed “rumination” as a topic. He seemed to think it was a problem for him.  I myself am a frequent flyer on the rumination plane, even though I don’t enjoy flying, so I was glad for the topic.

I grew up on a farm. We had cows, and cows definitely ruminate. We didn’t call it that. The word “ruminate” has too many syllables. We spoke of cows “chewin’ the cud.” They chewed and chewed and chewed. Then, they chewed some more. They had to do that in order to digest the grass or whatever else they were eating.

As we discussed the topic of rumination (a.k.a. “mulling things over; stewing on things; obsessing”) a couple of things came to mind. First, cows ruminate in order to digest their food. I’m afraid I’m not chewing on things to nourish myself, quite the contrary. I seem to chew on things in order to make myself sick. Not smart! I ruminate on slights, big and little, real and imagined. I mull over things that I can’t do anything about. In short, I wonder who is chewing whom? I think I may be the chew-ee, rather than the chewer.

Second, I am not a cow, so why act like one? Why not let things go? What do I get out of most of rumination besides a stomachache? And so, I say unto me and thee, “Don’t be a cow, man!”

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