Life is What You Make It.

I listen to Podcasts on my way to work. An hour drive one way is considered Long here in the midwest. East Coast and West Coast many people have hour drives and some only minutes. Midwest though most average 20 minutes to work and we are always moving - rarely stop-and-go, and even rare-er a full dead stop due to traffic...

Anyway. On the episode of the Model Health Show Podcast that I was listening to today - Shawn had Eric Thomas (a host of another of my podcasts), as a guest speaker. Instantly I thought - hey this is cool! These two went on to talk about mental health/strength and environment. Both mentioned they were the first in their families to go to college, that they want to leave a legacy, to "break a cycle", and that that the environment around you can shape you so you do need to change your environment if it's dragging you down......

Model Health Show: http://theshawnstevensonmodel.com/podcasts/

Secrets to Success Podcast: http://etinspires.com/category/podcasts/

In all honestly - I'm not 100% sure I can relate. I've had a great environment from the word go. I was never in an area that was thick with drugs and alcohol... a good part of that was I grew up in a church community that was big into service and "community". My mother is a great person and my father.  BUT - I do think I can understand. For, I don't think my great environment is a product of luck, nor do I think it's something I built (that would be egoistical). I think it's one generation, one group, passing on and supporting the next.

I think it's the people an family before me and the people around me deciding they didn't want X but went for Y because Y produces long term positive results while X is only short term. It was my grandfather choosing to work every day to support is family, and my parents choosing to try to stay together despite some stressful times, or choosing to "do the right thing" just because "it is the right thing" even when it was difficult/inconvenient... And I think it's me choosing to pick up and see the good. Because of this, I've been taught that today shapes tomorrow. It's exactly like gardening. If you don't time it right or start planting at the right time, there can easily be winter before harvest or the heat cause the plant to not produce if you are too early...

Last week, I while planting my garden. I was hot. I got sunburnt, and honestly it wasn't that great of a time... Gardening payback isn't in terms of cash or nutrition for me.  I can pay for food - I don't care about "organic" that much, I don't need to grow my own food... But I want the habit of growing food, the independence, the discipline, and more so the ability to influence others to do the same... I want this because I believe in it for myself as well as for the future of others.

What if, we only pick activities, people, storefronts, based upon not only the here and now, but the future good for ourselves and others? What if, we look for gifted horses instead of waiting for one to come to us?  Again, however - My environment has been GREAT. Yes I've worked Shitty jobs. Yes, I've had hard times. Yes I'll have even harder times, but there's aways someone worse out there, and there's always someone better. I'm saying Great because while I was not the cream-of-the-crop, I have learned from my environment and I have continued to not have regrets as I choose my paths.  But... It can get worse. Shit does happen... Its our jobs to work hard to not stay there.

Not-bragging but showing my point. This is my photo below... and the timeline to how I got there.


Last week. I ended up in the co-pilot seat of a private jet.

Two years ago I ended up joining a first-of-its-kind, first-of-its-size industrial biofuels plant back in my home state,

4 years ago I worked on a first-of-its-size solar thermal plant in the desert on the east coast because I volunteered to move there for a year though it was a "lesser paying" project...

5-6 years ago, I joined a construction company that moved people frequently desperate for any job and was open to anything and anywhere as long as it had future opportunities (originally I was trying for just my home state)...

But 8.5 years ago, I  nearly Failed out of college.... I had to get Help.  So I walked into the College head office, looking for assistance on how to Not-Fail-Out because I became clinically depressed was showing my dyslexia. At that moment, I could have decided college wasn't for me... I could have been prideful. I could have not looked for help or decided (without trying) that there was no help.

But, I had made friends 10 years ago who knocked on my door everyday to continue the study groups I started 9 years ago. So they helped me in the future.

And honestly - I watched and supported family and friends as they learned to survive then thrive despite diagnosis of bipolar disorder, depressions, and anxieties... 13-15 years ago.... And a few who choose not to fight, and saw where they ended up too... Though this was a hard time for me, it helped me in the future and has time and time again given me strength because I know others fight a harder battle...

Thus maybe the environment makes us. I know it compounds upon us... but I truly believe we, as a generation, as a "family", as a community, as previous, past, and future generations decide how that accumulation is going to go.
Did you know, that every plane talks to the air towers and airports? That they tell their course, height, and speed? Then the controllers help them on the best path to not collide with the other planes?  Did you know the lower altitude you are, the more traffic there is? The higher you fly, the faster you go simply because it's easier?  But... you can only fly a plane manually at low altitudes, so if something goes wrong, all other planes will move as you drop down until you are able to manually fly?

I didn't know any of that. I'm sure there's more to it for aircrafts - but for people. Go big, or start low and pick yourself up manually... Use others to set a course. I believe this 100%. Some days I'll vent. Other days I'll be upset or stressed because my work or life isn't hitting my minimum standard, or isn't what I thought it would be - but I'm going to accept and work on changing my path or changing others because I fully believe I have places to go.

I plant for a future harvest I don't see yet. Maybe I won't see it. Maybe some generation, some other family, some other person will get the fruits of this labor. I dunno. But I'm ok with that too.

Oy Vey - It's been awhile

Wow. Sorry. It's been awhile I guess. My blogging weekly is not going very well at all!

So.

Projects: 
Laundry/Office Room is no further along, but we've decided to work on that after the garden, wildflowers, basement, and a few other activities (It's indoors, it will survive in its current state).

Bird Houses are all hung. Those were fun. I highly recommend making bird houses for the yard. So far I haven't seen a bird in them, but I had a bird feeder up for a long time before even one bird ate from it!

Health: 
Still at the same weight. I have a fitbit now. Trying to hit 8k steps a day. That's easier said than done. I'm also doing daily workouts from http://darebee.com/ . Which I HIGHLY recommend! They have WOD (see below) - I try to do them every day. Today's I probably looked a bit funny doing it, but such is exercise!

And more important news! Garden and Chickens!:
Chickens are doing well. They are fat (big) suckers now. They like to run and jump in play (I hope) when I come in. They have lots of space and are rooming out of the brooder now freely. I am still keeping food out 24/7 but next week I'll start taking it away at night so they don't over eat themselves. Obese chickens would be bad...

For the garden, I'm going to plant this weekend. Hopefully I'll disk and plant wildflowers too, but I HAVE to plant my veggies this weekend. What sucks is that it's COLD. Oh my gosh, it's been 70-80F for last two weeks, 60s with rain on weekend, and this morning it was 36! YIKES

But... I need to suck it up. Because if I want to eat from a garden, I have to plant a garden... The photo below is kinda how I feel. Even though there's parts of gardening that I don't like... I can't say I'm pro-sustainable, pro-home-grown, or pro-Ag. If I don't actually grow a garden...

Honestly I think everyone should grow something at least once. If for nothing else, but to say you can and did. We eat don't we? Why not grow?

You know lately. I sometimes feel like we are distancing ourselves too much from what should be basics (myself included) ...

Even worse, I'm not sure we are teaching or passing on the "basics" or more so life-skills anymore. I remember having to take Home Ec 101 Class.  And maybe that high school home-Ec 101 class should become "Independence Skills" that covers cooking, sewing, car maintenance, laundry, money budgeting, navigating community utilities, food growing, house maintenance, and etc. That way for whatever reason, if we aren't taught it at home, we get exposure to it somewhere and remember how things get done other than using a professional service provider or running to a store...

I don't know. Maybe we are still sharing such skills, but I'm always surprised when someone says they can't sew at all or don't know how to budget, or can't change a tired, or can't get a plant to grow, or cook an egg... I might not be great at any of them, but I'm sure I (and most of us) can, or at least could figure it out. Hopefully the "I can't" doesn't become "seriously, I don't know how at all".