Take a minute and consider where you are right now. I am not talking about your physical location, I am talking about where your are in your life, How do you feel about right now? Are you Happy where you are? Are you working toward being somewhere else? Do you scold yourself or feel sorry for yourself for not being where or who you want to be? Consider what Shawn Achor says in this Ted Talk:
Is the way that see where we are affecting our happiness? I know that I spend a lot of time daydreaming about the day when I will finally have everything I want. The spacious but practical farm house, 10+ acres of land to farm, and raise animals. Where I will produce as many of the things that my family need as possible. When I have that THEN I will be happy. Is that the way that you feel? Once you have what you have been dreaming about then you can be happy.
You can call me Jane (of all trades). Right now I am 26 years old, the 3rd child of 6 and the only girl, I have 2 best friends, who challenge and encourage me. I live in a wonderful rented duplex in the Salt Lake Valley with two amazing roommates, I work 4 days a week as a nanny for infant twins, plus I work at a small specialty shoe store 2 days a week, I enjoy working but wish I had more time for all the little things, I am single and I am a Mormon. (I just couldn't resist the reference to the ad campaign).
I am so blessed when I think of where I am right now. Even though I am striving to be somewhere else in the future I can find Joy here. In my rental house's back yard, I was able to build two 4X4 Square Foot garden boxes and put several large pots on the patio. I am truly grateful for my gardens and am excited to start my first seedlings indoors when I get home from work tonight. I also have a large canning garden one of my best friends, Zipper and I share in my Parents un-landscaped backyard and I can't wait to start tomatoes seeds under my grow lights. While I don't have the several acres I daydream about, I don't let that stop me from enjoying my gardens now. We are planning to can, freeze, dehydrate and preserve all of the tomatoes, pickles, green beans, beets, winter squash and parsnips that we both will use for the whole year. We also plan to glean as much fruit from neglected neighborhood trees as we have time to process. It may not be my own farm but the sense of satisfaction from growing and preserving some of my own food is more than enough for me to be happy right now.
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| I ultimately want to own 10 or more acres debt free where I grow and raise 95% of my families food completely self sufficiently. Including breeding, raising, and processioning heritage breed live stock in a humane and respectful way. |
While I don't own any land right now I can be content in purchasing humanely raised meat, eggs and dairy from small local family farms. Right now I have a local source for raw grass feed milk, pasture raised eggs, grass feed beef and free range chicken. I can't bring myself to buy any meat knowing that it lived a horrible life so I could have cheap protein. Even when I go out to eat I order vegetarian, I still eat meat when visiting my parents for Sunday dinner and I don't worry too much that they don't feel the same way as I do. I can be happy not let the playful teasing get to me because I know they mean it in love. They know it means a lot to me.
I love my roommates dearly, one is my other best friend, Rue who loves to do all the geeky things with me, we watch shows like Dr. Who and Firefly, we go on random adventures, we laugh our heads off over nothing together and cry on each others shoulders. I couldn't imagine a better roommate or friend. My other roommate moved in less than a year ago, we get along great, her enthusiasm and drive are great motivators for me to work harder everyday.
Yes I am very blessed when I sit down to write it out for you. But there are some things about right now that I have wanted to change and at times I have been very depressed over. For example: As long as I can remember I have wanted nothing more than to be a wife and stay at home mom. I never thought I would still be single when I turned 25. I don't know why the Lord is asking me to wait for this righteous desire and even though I have complete faith that his plan for me is infinitely better than my own, It still hurts sometimes to feel like you aren't good enough to have what you want most in the world. There isn't a lot I can do to, being a girl means my options are limited. I have asked guys out and paid for dates, I have tried online dating and I go to my ward activities, but there is only so much I can do to try and change that part of where I am. I know one day I will have what I have been longing for and it will be worth the wait. I can find happiness in that.
Join me as I share my daily life finding happiness in where I am and work toward where I long to be.
Thanks for stopping by,
Jane
