Be a Buffalo in a Storm

“Face the storms of life like a Buffalo, not like a Cow. Charge like a herd of buffalo through the fire and seek your truth. Be your own revolution.”

— Christopher Josephs

An excerpt from the unpublished book, The Daily Sage. The Daily Sage provides timeless wisdom with roots in Christianity for the world of today as we ponder the way to go. What life is? How to handle ourselves and how to handle others. These questions all seem timeless but have been considered since 500 BC. Men and women have been creating ideas and answers for the last 2,000 years and through many ideas from Christian writings, ancient Taoists, Roman emperors, military leaders, former slaves, religions figures, and extraordinary human beings. Together they paint a picture of ideas that illustrate wisdom and courage that stand true against the test of time.

What do all these people say? Are there connections to ideas from ancient times to today’s modern issues? Are these texts, ideas, and quotes worth reading today in the modern world? In short, yes. These documents, daily devotionals, and ideas, contain timeless wisdom that can be reflected on no matter what season of life you are in.

Life is full of storms. Those storms bring key moments. Flight or fight response moments. In today’s age of screen time and instant google solutions, we are learning more and more how people respond to stress and adversity. Usually, stress usually results in placing a screen in front of your face or run away from the stressor entirely. It isn’t something to be proud of.

There is an old Texas cowboy story that illustrates the choices we make when the storms of life come our way. Texas has a unique climate that allows for both cows and buffalo to roam freely. Cows and buffalo are similar in many ways, but there is one distinction that is worthy of noting as it is instructional.

During tornado season in Texas, storms can be unpredictable given the terrain of open range. When a storm is coming, cows and buffalo respond very differently. This old cowboy witnessed that there is a noticeable difference in the way Buffalo and Cows face storms as they come rolling across the land there. Cows, fear the storms and so they run away from them as fast as they can, usually ending up maximizing the amount of time they are with the storm because they move along with it as they run. Makes sense — hard to argue with that logical behavior. However, eventually that storm will catch up to the cows. That’s a problem … the fear and the avoidance of facing the storm causes cows to run. The fear of avoiding the storm is causing the cows to flee and run ahead of the storm, hoping it will go away, and when it doesn’t the cow is ultimately surprised with having to face the storm anyway. Optimism, wishful thinking, running away, avoiding the danger, looking away and pretending the storm is not there do not work.

Buffalo on the other hand, turn their bodies towards the storm and face right into it head on, minimizing the amount of time and frustration they experience because they are passing through it quicker to the other side. By reacting oppositely and heading right into the storm right into harm’s way is counter-intuitive and the best idea! By moving toward the storm, the impact of the storm is dramatically reduced. There is a vastly different experience both animals have, even though they face the exact same storm, simply based on how they choose to respond.

When something bad, difficult, or fearful comes over the horizon, how do you respond? Do you respond like the cow, running away from the storm and hoping it chooses a different path, hoping it goes away? Or do you respond like a buffalo, going head-first into the storm with eyes wide open, knowing that facing challenges straight-on with courage and fortitude will ultimately lessen the significance and effects. It is easy for us to justify and rationalize the logical cow behavior of running away from the tough and the scary moments life throws at you. I challenge you to be a buffalo — face the storms and fears we avoid, move towards them with faith and confidence, know that beyond the storm the clouds fade away and sunshine awaits.

Thank you, Ring of Horns, for the images and inspiration with your regenerative bison ranch. Ring of Horns was founded by first-generation ranchers, Jared and Terye Gaustad. A mother and son who sought out a fulfilling way of life stewarding the land and raising this keystone species under the big sky of western Montana. ROH is a regenerative ranch striving to produce nourishing meat, organ supplements, and leather goods. Our sole intention is to create a meaningful impact on the health of our consumers, community and the ecological wealth of our land. To learn more visit their website and sign up for their products and learn more about their agricultural practices.

Thank you for reading this excerpt from the unpublished book, The Daily Sage. Please follow me for more text and ideas presented in the book. The book will have timeless stories, ideas of masculinity, and lessons from throughout history that can help shape your life today.

Usually I start at 4:10AM after I get my bones moving and coffee in my body prior to working out. I like to give at least an hour to writing with a pen in my journal and now posting my ideas or thought train onto my Substack. Ignore any errors and please feel free to subscribe if you want to learn more about my dive into Men’s Devotionals, Agriculture, Training, and my journey in Texas. The Daily Sage is a reflection on scripture, daily life in Texas, agricultural projects I am working on, and real estate. I am expecting a son in 2025 and I am married to a remarkable woman who is a serial entrepreneur