Its no secret I like to mow my own grass (drives my allergies crazy) and I think highly of people who also mow their own yard. In general I think taking care of one’s property regardless of what it is presents an image of pride not everyone is willing to exhibit. To me it means “this is mine and I take care of it therefore I am not willing to give it away freely.” It’s a source of security and responsibility. Along the same direction if I can’t take care of something that might affect someone else like property lines then it is my responsibility and mine alone to hire someone who can take care of the issue or at a minimum, discuss it with my neighbor who’s property borders mine and farms his land.
The pride I take in my belongings whether it is one of my vehicles or my land is important to me because its what allows me to appreciate what I currently have more than whatever bullshit I’ve decided I want and later forget about that day because of a stupid commercial.
One reason I really enjoy my land is because I can just go out there and walk around and no one will ever tell me not to. Not even if there is LIGHTNING WITHIN FIVE. Nope, not doing that anymore either. I’m not completely dropping what I’m doing because someone else came along and told me I had to. That’s how my train got derailed in the first place. There I was chugging along, minding my own business pulling my shit and then BAM! Some jerkface slams his life-path into mine.
When people slam into your life-path with theirs and it affects you in some way it’s easy to get really pissed off and vindictive. It’s easy to think that person who affected you must have woken up that day with a plan to hunt you down and inject their bullshit into your life. I mean, why not? They are right now affecting you (your mind) and your property (your person). But what if that isn’t true? What if you considered people do not act a certain way toward you because of you, they act a certain way simply because of something going on with them? These days I try to keep to myself for that very reason.
You see, things have been going crazy my whole life and people have been crashing into my lane of traffic since I was a little younger than my son is. Things were so crazy for so long I eventually just got used to the inconsistencies. I accepted them and readily made inconsistencies part of my plan every day. I told myself I would be flexible enough to allow the inconsistencies of others to control my life. That’s often-what kids in my situation do. When I became a young adult however, I had developed a plan to find consistency and I did it by joining the Air Force. It was the first time I had the ability to choose what I wanted to do next. I was going to go to college. I had no idea what college even was but I was going to go. I was going to learn everything I could about people!
Along the way I would find examples of consistency in my life I could control and examples I could not. More importantly I began to analyze and categorize what I could control and what I could not. I’ve seen people feeling the pressures of stress buckle and that is not a pretty sight. Stress is inconsistent, it comes and goes. It can be tremendous or slightly nagging. I have learned there is more value in the stress you have endured than there is in the stress you are currently facing. That is why we value people who have faced tragedy and survived higher than people we know are facing tragedy and letting the pressure destroy them. Once we have endured one level (not just experienced it), we should be ready for more. You are being tested because you are ready to promote yourself to the next level you’re at the Boss battle and realistically what we gotta do is keep a level head and remember what we discovered to defeat him. Unfortunately this is mostly stress we willingly introduced into our lives. Once we have control of your stressors you can address the, lessen them and even eliminate them.
These days I’m comfortable with the tests I’ve passed. I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff because then I won’t have the time or the patience I will need for the major things. Let me tell you, I’ve had some major things to stress out about just like everyone else. What I find important in my life is having something I can focus my stress-energy on. Something I know can comfortably control. Something I can change if I want to and no one can or even wants to modify what I want to do. That is what a front yard is to some military guys. We have so many things in our lives we simply cannot control because unlike many jobs, you cannot quit and you cannot easily say no to the next level of your chain of command. I told myself when I retired, I would find an outlet for any unnecessary stress and you know what? My front yard is where it now goes. I can trim my bushes, plant flowers and clear my memorial of leaves. I can cut my grass so low I can walk around barefoot. I’ve cleared much of my woods so in the summer evenings I sit amongst my trees and let the wind blow past me. I have complete control over my yard and I can make it look amazing if I want. And I try to. Last year I got the hang of living in the country and I think this year I’m really gonna rock it out!
Tomorrow I am going to make another video and show the world I’m not afraid to talk about the difficult things I want to take a part in trying to change. My plan is slowly formulating and my task list is getting longer. At least these days I have lists.
Another video tomorrow
You’re Welcome. Internet.
