There is one thing that will always be true. If you want to know more about life, be a farmer. The number of lessons I have learned over the past ten years could fill a book, and I may write a book about it soon. Of course, some lessons are more significant than others but all, I think, are equally important.
LESSON 1:
Things are not as important as you think they are. There are a lot of things that can go wrong on the farm. For example, a bad storm can damage some crops, and an animal dies in childbirth, a raccoon raids the coop at night, a fox takes out your ducks, the truck breaks down, you get a leaky roof on a building, etc. The possibilities are endless.
There is no doubt that each of these events will cost you time, labor, and money that you did not have planned to do, but you have no choice but to do it. I guess you have a choice not to, but that means something else will fail. Often, the aggravation and stress of the event can lead to a lot of feelings and emotions that are less than Christian.
At the end of each farm emergency, I have always had the same thought afterward, and it just took me a few years to realize it. I always felt a little silly that I got so worked up. Eventually, I realized something and adopted a new mantra. There is no point in getting upset about things that are out of your control.
I cannot control the weather, so why am I stressing. Yes, I lost money, but I can always make more money. Yes, my crop died, but I can regrow more. Yes, the water pump went out; all I can do is change it; so on and so forth. Stress is a giant killer, it is one of the leading factors in heart disease, and heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
LESSON TWO:
Nothing will ever go as planned; when it does, mark the occasion because it is a once-a-year thing. I do not care how well you plan something out. How many backup and contingency plans you may have, something will throw a wrench in your plans.
The only protection that you have in this is to expect that it will happen. This expectation will allow you to have proper items on hand to correct anything that comes up, leading me to the next lesson.
LESSON THREE: ALWAYS BE PREPARED.
More than once, I have found myself in a situation that I cannot get myself out of without help. For the simple fact that I do not have the correct tools with me. I have everything from an e-tool to a blanket in my truck, just because I can never know what I will need or when I will need them. Rather it is a hammer or some duct tape.
If a fence comes down or a tire goes flat on the tractor in the middle of a field, you have to be ready then and there to fix it, or this can lead to much bigger problems. I can not stress enough the need to be prepared for anything that goes wrong. Sometimes it can even be life or death for you or an animal.
Lesson Four:
It is probably the most important one in this article, and it ties back to lesson one closely. There is nothing more important than family. The fences, the weeds, the hay cutting, the water pumps, nothing, nothing is more important than your family.
Every man has a responsibility to his wife and kids for the rest of his life. You will never stop being a dad by biology, and you will never stop being a husband by commitment. If either of these two is neglected, that entire family system will fall apart. There is never a reason to miss your kid’s ball game. There is never a reason to miss your anniversary dinner with your spouse.
No man has ever laid on his death bed wishing he had spent more time working. Instead, many men have laid there wishing that they had spent more time with their families. To live a life of no regrets is to live your life with your priorities in the proper order, and that priority is your family. But I need to work to support them, still not as important as spending time with them.
Regardless of what the MGTOWs say, a good woman will stick with her man through thick and then, few men seem to find that ride or die woman, and when you do, you make her your priority, and she will always fight by your side. Your kids will not remember how big their Christmas was in a couple of years, but they will remember if dad was there or not.
The choice is simple. Your family must always come first.
AUTHOR
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Padre
Twitter @HmestedPadre
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