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Better Pork
February 2017
SECOND
LOOK
H
akuna matata (a Swahili
phrase, roughly translated as
“don’t worry, be happy”) was
made famous through the animated
movie
The Lion King
. What do you
believe – that happiness comes from
within you or it is imposed upon you?
Is happiness an inward or external
response?
“Bill” is a pork producer, a friend
and a mentor of mine. In my usual
pursuit of the definition of success, I
asked him, “How can you always be
so composed, relaxed and deliberate
in everything you do?”
Very quickly he replied, “Twenty
years ago I was in a car accident. I was
broadsided – I was in the driver’s seat
– five ribs broken, bleeding spleen
and I couldn’t breathe. I knew I was
going to die and for those few mo-
ments, I sat there thinking, ‘If only I
can live, I would always enjoy what I
am doing.’ And then I took a breath.”
Bill manages a very successful
farrow-to-finish operation, a 1,100-
acre cash crop operation, and he
volunteers a lot. He’s very successful,
very generous and – most of all – fun
to be with. He has no desire to be the
biggest, the best or the wealthiest, al-
though I think he ranks among the top
in each category. He enjoys life and the
pork business gives him the opportu-
nity to do so.
Bill now enjoys a balance in his life
– how many of us can say the same?
Does it take a disaster to realize the
true blessings in life?
The pig industry, similar to many
industries, is rapidly adapting to
respond to the concerns of advocacy
groups, labour challenges, price fluc-
tuations, regulation overloads, family
challenges and health concerns – to
name just a few influences.
Because these crises become stan-
dard in our business does not mean
that they need to be a standard for our
attitude. Remember the dictionary
definition of stress: force applied that
strains or deforms the initial shape. If
you cannot accept the new shape and
enjoy it, the stress can break you.
It’s your choice to enjoy the stress
and smile or not. Enjoyment leads to
success, not the reverse.
Die Broke
by Stephen Pollan, a great
book that changed my life, proposes
we should forget the idea of spending
our entire lives saving and investing
with the idea of idyllic retirement on a
beach somewhere. His key principles
are: quit today, pay cash, don’t retire
and die broke. “The last cheque you
write should be to the undertaker –
and it should bounce,” says Pollan.
Spend your money while you’re
alive. The practice of accumulating a
pile of money to pass on to your chil-
dren is built on the mistaken notion
that money has value in and of itself.
The reality is that money is a tool; it is
a means to an end. Spend your money
while you can appreciate it. Plus, giv-
ing a pile of money to your kids can
ruin them. Money or assets might be
left to children or grandchildren at key
points of need so the giver as well as
receiver can both enjoy the gift.
Enjoy the moment, for few can
appreciate the beauties that farmers
take for granted. Nature surrounds us
and we only need to look around to
appreciate it.
You work in one of the most no-
table and worthy businesses – pro-
ducing food. Pork producers are also
blessed with the opportunity to work
in a transparent industry where farm-
ers shares their production techniques,
innovations, health protocols and
labour-saving ideas readily. We take
our blessings for granted.
If you couldn’t breathe, would you
wish for anything different than what
you are doing right now? Hakuna
matata.
BP
Richard Smelski has over 35 years of
agribusiness experience and farms in
the Shakespeare, Ont. area.
Hakunamatata: a goodphilosophy for life
As farmers and pork producers, we face a number of challenges and stressors. But, we also have a
number of blessings and opportunities. Enjoy the moment.
by RICHARD SMELSKI
prudkov/iStock /Getty Images Plus photo
Enjoy the moment, for few can appreciate the beauties that farmers take for granted.