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Accepting That I Don’t Have to Do It All

As I’ve said before, I take on a lot! We all do as homesteaders, living the simple life. We make a conscious choice to do things for ourselves.

Whether it’s that we would rather not support large corporations, we want to go back to a more traditional way of life, we like knowing where our food and products come from, the satisfaction of knowing “I did this!”, or a combination of these. Living this lifestyle brings on A LOT of work!

 

But it’s work that I love. I can’t say that my need for this life has come from one person specifically. But rather a combination of some really amazing people in my life that have given me the gifts that they have to offer.

 

My mom and her love for cooking and providing healthy and delicious meals for her family. My dad, who would drop anything to fix your car or build you something that he knows you would really love, for a plate of chocolate chip cookies (ok maybe because he loves us haha).

 

My grandma, for her kind heart that was able to craft, cook, bake and an endless list of other skills that she gifted her family of 7 children, their spouses, and 13 grandchildren without ever showing us (the grandchildren haha) anything other than joy.

 

My in-laws for their need for fun, (I need reminded of that sometimes).  My husband for his need to do things on his own (“the right way”). And so many more, I could be here all day.

 

They all drive me to take on the projects that I do. I’m more than capable of doing them, But I’m learning to accept that, sometimes, I can’t do it all. Quality over quantity right?

 

Saying that out loud is hard for me, but if I want to be able to give the people in my life all that they need, I need to learn when to say no, or ask for help.

Appreciating my strengths and Accepting my weaknesses

 

I have a long list of things that I excel at. Some of them being cooking, baking, knitting, chickens, and crafting.

Some I’m still learning but am doing well enough, like gardening.

I expect that to evolve like my soil does and I am forever grateful for the group of friends we have and how we share our successes and failures to learn from each other.

Three things that I am definitely not good at are building, vehicles, and asking for help. These are qualities that I am fortunate enough to find in Nick.

I would not have my chickens if he hadn’t built my coop and I wouldn’t be able to watch our home evolve into exactly what we want if he didn’t have those skills.

If he couldn’t maintain my vehicle or the number of other mechanical things around here, I would either be driving my dad completely insane or racking up outrageous bills to get things taken care of.

 

And as for asking for help, this one is still hard for me but I am working on it. I kind of like instant gratification. Who doesn’t really?

 

An example would be my NEED for goats. I need goats.

 

Nick needs a nice big barn. I do not want to wait but know that my construction skills are non-existent.

 

I try to play my hand that Nick has to have things done “the right way” and have threatened to bring home pallets, bungee cords and  a blue tarp but he didn’t buy it, so I still have no barn or goats. I like to think that this experience is helping me with my patience, but really I think that it is just testing it.

 

We take on a lot of hats in this lifestyle and sometimes we have limitations. If you’re like me, these limitations are hard to swallow.

 

But we spend our time growing our food and raising our animals to ensure that we are eating healthy. I think we also need to remember that if you’re pulling yourself in a million different directions your psychological and spiritual self are not being treated with the same care.

 

What are some of your strengths and weaknesses? How do you care for yourself psychologically and spiritually in a lifestyle that can become so overwhelming?

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