Cowboy Action Shooting is living a fantasy, a dream or simply the life it should be. I'm not talking about guns and shooting steel. I'm talking about sharing and true friendship, even about the search for role models and the Cowboy Way. I'm talking about honesty, about lending a hand without wanting anything in return and experience the positive outcome with fellow friends. It’s about the pleasures of just being there, to do something for the community and for our loved ones. That’s a fact.

I've tried, to the best of my abilities, to work for common goals seven days a week, to lend out a hand, to share. I didn't do it because it was expected of me, not because role models said it was the right thing to do. I lived this way of life because it just turned out to be me - it turned out to be my quality time. There was no other alternative. All right, some folks might say I picked some peculiar fields to work with - gun rights and sports shooting. Well, these folks can't see that behind the guns and the shooting, the real and major issues are about friendship, responsibility, security and even respect for life. That’s a fact.

Along my chosen trail of life, I always meet people who ask me “why”? Why commit yourself? Why don't you, like so many of us, jump the ego trip wagon and enjoy yourself “while you can”!

Could be it was the September 11 that started it all - this reality check of mine. I didn't notice it at first, but deep inside, my sub conscience started to work big time. I experienced as you all did, how the world stopped, how we all talked about the evil, about the important things in life and how we should cope, how we should fight and “smoke’em out”, how we should take care of each other…..Yep, the answers was all there in front of us…..easy to pick up. There were no alternatives.

A couple of months later, my own world stopped - triggered by chest pains. Doctors and nurses didn't find anything. I was in perfect physical health, but plain exhausted from living my chosen life, working for personal and common goals, living my quality life. In his own practical way, the Lord sent a signal to make me pause and stable the horse for awhile. I have and still do.

In a world filled with ego trip participants, I reckon I have tried to look the other way and avoid these kind of people just to make myself going ahead. I still want to live my chosen life, even if I am the first to know that this life is filled with so many rocky roads, stampedes and disappointments. In this chosen life, I have to bear the fact that egoism is out there, hidden behind false fronts, just like in a town in the Old West. The Main Street looks great, but there’s a whole lot of secrets and hidden agendas behind the boards, the painting, the curtains and the canvas.

I've learned, through my unwanted break in life, how people came out in that Main Street and found me face down. They did it either out of true concern or curiosity. You see, people will always come out in the streets to say howdy in a situation like that. You just can't see who is real or who is playing “the act”.

In my case, the majority of this posse told me how I should learn and live another life. Some claimed they would even take charge and let me have that needed break. After awhile, I know from previous and similar experiences some will walk up on that sidewalk and then silently disappear behind the curtains dealing with whatever true priority they have in life. Some already have. Those still with me, tell me they will walk the streets along my side, ride that river of common goals and do whatever it takes. I don't know how many who will ride that river in the long run, living that proclamation. What I do know, is that those who’s there with me in the times to come, will be my true friends. Many of them will be cowboy action shooters. That’s a fact…

Taking my rounds in the Main Street of life, I see how we all struggle to live our dreams. I'm not alone. I'm not special. Cowboy Action Shooting and how wonderful this sport has developed, has given thousands of fine folks a chance to experience a reality check in the monthly shoot or at an annual event.

Cowboy Action Shooting is not about false fronts. It is about giving us the strength to get back to life on a Monday morning building what is important every day of the week, the true building of quality life, of true friendship and sharing.

The ultimate goal for a cowboy action shooter and in fact for all people in this world, is to live by the code every day of the week, to be able to make whatever false fronts we have into something that is real, to paint the walls with lasting colors, to decorate our own and public rooms of life with true quality and true friendship, love and compassion. I will continue to work on that goal, no matter what. I still need some rest though, but I'm going back on that same trail. That’s a fact.

While I rest in my bunkhouse, take care, my true friends out there. Don't you ever give up trying to find your quality measurements every day of the week, but promise me to share it. If we all do that within our abilities, many more can find the quality many search for in their short visit on planet earth. Let more people get a chance to learn that working for a common cause is not about a personal outcome, it is about sharing. In return, the personal outcome will be given you for free. I like to believe that’s a fact. I see no reason why I shouldn't. Do you?

Marshal Halloway
SASS #3411 Regulator


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