Now here is an interesting old word I’ve been hearing from Mom and thinking about lately.
GUMPTION.
It is something that is part of a cowdog’s DNA, but sadly lacking in the human race these days. It started as a Scottish word in 1719, and means common sense combined with get-up-and-go determination. Tell me that isn’t a perfect definition of us stock dogs? I especially like the old Scottish version of the word, rumblegumption, and believe I will make that my personal definition. Mom says it is going on a shirt with my picture, too! We Heelers are rumblegumption!
It was the 1900’s in America, when the qualities of tenacity and courage joined the definition of resourceful horse sense, in this word. That is the word mom’s gram used and practiced daily, I’m told. That grandmother homesteaded a ranch in Montana, gritting out a hardscrabble life in a world of hard work, wind, isolation. 
She practiced gumption to get through World War I, where her brother died, droughts, a Depression, then another war that she sent a son into. Triumphing then, even just surviving, would take a good dose of gumption, and she had it. Most everyone had it then.
So that brings us to today, and the desperate need for practicing gumption. I see too much woe and worry, melodramatically living like a phony realty TV show. Too much dependence on what some fool on TV or in Washington is saying, not enough dependence on one own’s discerning experience and wisdom.
The world needs more gutsy gumption-practicing way-makers. This may be a specialty of us Heelers, so watch and learn!
Have you ever seen one of us go after a stubborn bovine that must go through a gate? It takes all the wisdom and experience I have to get it right. It also takes the courage to charge in at the right time and do it. It takes Heeler gumption. And the job gets done efficiently, maybe even looks easy.
It seems the world is short on this – just standing up and getting the job done. Not a lot of fanfare or rewards. Without drama and woe. Just practical common sense and courage worked together. It should be the start of every thought and action. It ought to become the basis of how to live a life.
Watch in the next few weeks for an exciting addition here, when two gritty friends will join me. This post is a little bit of a hint!
Start practicing your rumblegumption, and see you next week.
