Grass is Greener

​Grass is greener
A guy who mows lawns for a living phoned the other day.  He was saying it is like a famine or a feast with him.  In winter there was hardly any work.  Now he is having trouble keeping up.
That is not hard for me to believe, when I see what has happened at this place.  Bare patches have gone.  All is green.  And growing.  Fast.  In winter I was more like Pig Pen in Snoopy.  Surrounded by a cloud of dust as I mowed.  Some one in the neighbourhood looked like they had a nice lawn.  When they mowed it became more obvious what was going on.  I would be glad when I had driven through the cloud of dust.
Thinking about that reminded me of the saying “the grass is always greener on the other side.”
We used to have people joining us from other clubs.  It is not what we set out to do.  We did not think, “how can we get heaps of people that are in clubs already to join our club?”
Our secret was to provide green grass.  We were not responsible for where people came from.  Our aim was to have people eat in our paddock who had never eaten there before.  Others coming from another paddock was just a bonus for us.
If I go to a restaurant and get steak and veges for a certain price and know the place next door serves steak and veges  even cheaper, and everything else is the same, my natural inclination will be to go to the place next door.  One offs are one thing, but multiply that many times and it would be irresponsible of me not to make savings and provide for others with something that would not have been available.
If I am in opposition to me and I see my cows disappearing to the paddock down the road with greener grass, there is a solution.  Make my grass greener.  Ranting and raving does not solve anything.
We had a club complain to the Queensland authorities that we were stealing their people.  The authorities shrugged it off as they knew that was not our intention.  We were in fact doing all we could to see the other organization prosper.  They would not change though.  They have since folded.
I say it often, but the definition of insanity is to do something the same way and expect different results.  Sometimes change is needed and the only way to change is to change.  If I want things to change, I need to ensure the grass is not greener on the other side.
Change always starts with an individual.  Someone decided Kmart needed to change and they did.  They don’t keep excess stock now, and their prices are better.  I find it a desirable place to go.  We are concerned for Target though.  It is like it is in no man’s land.  Not expensive but not cheap.  Yet they have the same things as many others.  My choice will always be to get the same thing at a better price elsewhere.
I can dream of change.  I can rant and rave.  I can move the deck chairs.  But until I change, nothing changes, and I will be at the mercy of somewhere where the grass is greener.