CoffeeTime: “SICK OF BEING THE LAST PART OVER THE FENCE?”

It’s not exactly a terrific ego-booster to forever be ‘the belly’ – the body part that doesn’t clear the fence last, but still, you’re not the tip end of the nose that always goes first, either. Can make a person feel pretty mediocre at times. Whether it’s on the job, in the family, or simply during playtime, seems you are destined to …just be there, doing important belly work but never a leading part of the whole outfit.  And don’t even think about being a nose-tip!  

But being last in line doesn’t always feel too great, either. The part that clears the fence last. From the vantage point of a hind-ender person, life can seem like an endless series of watching others racing ahead of them – seeming to effortlessly and happily clear the fence long before the hind-ender has the chance to sluggishly heave their body up and over. A fence that apparently grows to be one hundred- and five feet tall … just before the hind-ender gets there. That is how it can feel to them, anyway.

So, does there really have to be brains, and bellies, and hind-enders in every organization in this world? Why? Why must there always be those who have the unglamorous designation of Hind-Ender? Simple. A group of people is a living thing, and a living breathing thing always has body parts. Body parts that function to make that organization work. And unfortunately, there is always gonna be a tail, as it is a vital and needed piece of the body puzzle. (Ever actually seen an animal, a bird, a person, or any other living thing on this earth that doesn’t own one?)

My advice to the one reading this column, who is sick of always being the last one over the fence?  Learn to readjust your thinking about you. Re-evaluate what the family, the company, or the team would be without your participation as the hind-end. Reassess your actual input and the need for it within the organization, and you will very likely see your value. After all, what exactly is a body without a tail? 

I agree, you will probably never be on the cover of an MVP magazine. Most of us won’t.  But folks, being the tip of the nose has its own trials and problems. Tips of noses have to deal with allergies, odors, and risk of frostbite that hind-ends rarely have to face. Yeah, pun intended.

Learn to find the value of your position, right where you are. Free yourself to enjoy the good things in your life. Realize that everyone has a job to do in life and it probably is totally different from yours, but they face their own painful, boring, and difficult times. 

Your Creator hasn’t forgotten you. Nor has He decided you are ‘less than.’  On the contrary, the hind end has an endless amount of varied and important jobs for the body. Take some time to imagine what life would be like without hind ends.