By Jim Pilgrim

As a kid I grew up on a horse farm. We raised, trained and showed Quarter Horses. When I was in my early teens, I would break and rough-train horses (saddle-break, neck rein) and such. I would spend a couple of weeks with each horse all for a whopping $50. I guess that was a lot of money for a 13 year-old in 1972.

Anyway, I’ll get to the point. We had a fence made from 4×4 posts and 2×6 rails that ran the full length of the front side of our pasture. It was about 150 yards long with a couple of 90 degree turns. One day, I guess I was bored and decided to try to walk on top of that fence. Now for those of you who don’t know, when you buy a 2×6 planed smooth it is really only 1 ½” by 5 ½” so here I am balanced on top of a 1 ½ inch board 4 ½ feet off the ground. Now my dad is a hell of a fence builder, so it was pretty solid, but the span between the posts was a little shaky. This might not be the dumbest thing I ever did, but it was close. When I would lose my balance, I would jump to one side or the other of the fence. I’m sure glad I never slipped and fell straddling that fence. By the end of that summer, with several falls behind me, I could walk on top of that fence the full 150 yards without a dismount.

(Now the real point!) I just read that US workers are at an all time high for productivity. Companies are reluctant to hire given our current economy, and that means “job enhancements” for those of us employed. We all take on this added work without complaint and thankful we have a job.

We Americans are not afraid of work and current economic times have us all balancing on a 2×6 between the posts. Try to find that healthy balance between family, work, friends, and leisure that will sustain you for the long-haul. I don’t want you to lose your balance and fall straddling that 2×6.