Buffalo Medicine: Reliability and Dependability

Reliability, dependability. Consistency and steadfastness. Durability. My tradition calls it Buffalo Medicine.

It is grounded. It is not flashy. It does not draw attention to itself. People with buffalo medicine quietly go about their business supporting and uplifting everyone and everything around them.

Reliability is a funny thing. Without it, someone or something is really not of much value or worth. If it is not consistent, you can't depend on it. When it really counts, like when your heart is open and exposed, you can either rely on someone or not. And if you cannot rely on them, what good are they?

To walk with your heart open and to risk being vulnerable, you need people around you that you can count on. If you can not rely on them to support you and do what they say you are going to do, it is going to be difficult to be open and take risks.

Buffalo Medicine is the most powerful medicine there is because it provides support when it really counts.

So you need to be able to recognize people with Buffalo Medicine. Like all the things when observing people, you have to watch what they do (not what they say). If you pay attention, people will always tell you who they are.

Do they do what they say? Are they available? Do they care? Do they make sure something happens?

Our culture doesn't value buffalo medicine much these days. We say we want people we can count on, but they are usually not the people we choose to surround ourselves with.

We go for the cool, exciting, and mysterious. To quote Mark Knopfler and The Dire Straits "We fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold."

And then we are left holding the bag. We say to ourselves, "You just can't trust people."

No, you just can't trust people that are not reliable and dependable.