Have But Not Need

“It’s better to have that and not need it than to need it and not have it!”

• Cap’n Woodrow F. Call to Newt in episode two of Lonesome Dove a 1985 miniseries that is worth the watch!

Call, whom everyone knows is Newt’s father, even though he won’t acknowledge it, gives Newt a gun in this scene, as they prepare to cross the Rio Grande and “secure” a few hundred head of cattle and horses to take to Montana.

Montana’s become a consistent theme for me in the past couple years, but I digress…

What are the things in our bidness that are better to have and not need than need and not have?

Empathy. Preparation. Awareness (goes with research and preparation…). Curiosity. Listening skills. Intent to listen. Desire to understand over being understood. Oxygen. (Yes, breathing really does matter, especially when things get amped up!).

Cap’n call gives Newt the six-shooter about 45 seconds before they ride off. The things we want to have and not need rather than need and not have will likely require more prep — and will assuredly provide more benefit. (Spoiler alert – Newt doesn’t need the gun. Yet.)

^{Editor’s Note: Can a spoiler alert exist in a 39-year-old TV reference? But, I digress again…}