Mike O'Cull
Aug 9, 2017 · 4 min read

SERVING THE BUTCHER

By Mike O’Cull


Don’t be so quick to behave like a sheep. Think about what happens to sheep in the end. They get sheared down and slaughtered. That doesn’t seem like a fate I would be interested in. The older I get, the more I consider doing what I call Serving the Butcher and not worrying so much about the sheep and their opinions. I tried being part of a flock and I don’t like it. I feel like I lose a part of myself every time I try to join a group mentality of some sort. A group makes me become one dimensional. and flat. I am too complex to fit neatly within the box of group identity. I don’t want to be led to the slaughter; I want to eat meat. To do that, I must Serve the Butcher. I must be part of where the food comes from and not just one more mouth waiting to be fed.

So who or what is the Butcher? I think the Butcher is anyone or anything that directly benefits me and mine. Anyone that puts meat on the table. I prefer this type of thinking because it keeps reminding me that the world operates on the ‘kill or be killed’ principal most of the time. Eat or be eaten. It means I must take care of myself first if I am to be of any use to anyone else, as an artist, human, or anything. I must get myself upright and be functioning first if I am to take care of another.

Serving the Butcher is not about living a selfish life. Rather, it is the opposite. It is about building personal strength in order to be more useful to those around you. To be a better leader, boss, parent, or anything else requires that we be in a position of strength, not of weakness and chaos. If we put too much time into pleasing others without taking proper care of ourselves, however, weakness and chaos is exactly what we will have. We need to eat, sleep, and create our own proper head space, whatever that means to each of us, to be the best that we can be. We need to maintain our borders and be mentally and physically strong if we want to be able to provide. Running ourselves into the ground in mind, body, or spirit serves no one.

I have been, like many of you, my own worst critic for most of my life. I can be very hard on myself in terms of how I view my deeds, actions, and in-actions. I used to think that I was doing this to keep myself honest and working and not in a state of delusion. All it really did, however, was weaken my opinions of my decision-making abilities, sow the seeds of self-distrust, and made me doubt myself. I was not Serving the Butcher. I should have taken the time to prepare for the challenges in my life in order to better face them than to spend my time beating myself up for losing at a game only partially knew how to play. I was more concerned with appearing successful and together to other people than in actually becoming those things. If I had really wanted to be successful, I would have taken the time to dig deeper into my battles and to spend less time faking it. I would have fed myself first so that I might feed others later. I would have Served the Butcher.

I do not want to be a sheep, a face in the flock. A sheep is ultimately of benefit only to those who wear its wool and have it for dinner. That is not my goal. I want to become one with the Butcher. I want to feed my people and be the source of their blessings. I can only do that if I first make myself strong inside and out. I have to Serve the Butcher so that I can eat and only then am I able to provide for others. I tried in the past to lead when I was in a position of weakness and failed. I will not make that mistake again. I used to seek safety by hiding myself in a group of some kind. preferring to achieve less by risking less instead of putting myself out front, leading with my chin, and learning by doing. Sure, it is a lot harder to run the butcher shop than to be part of the herd out back in the corral, but the risk, work, and personal development of running the show is where the payoff lies. You get to determine where you end up. We all know how it is going to end for the sheep.

Build yourself up, stand tall, and Serve the Butcher. Provide the meals, don’t beg for food. Really, it is all about being strong enough to be the change you wish to bring to the world. If I make myself strong, I can make those around me strong, too. Strength leads and weakness follows. Which sounds more appealing to you?

Mike O'Cull

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