420 Followers Here On Steemit!

We’ve hit a new milestone today, and technically passed it in typical stoner fashion. I waited on posting about my milestone of 400 followers, choosing to instead celebrate it at the 420 mark, which technically happened last night. As I get around to writing my celebratory 420 post, I notice that I’ve currently actually have 421 followers now, which is ironic at best. I figure it’s only fitting that it be one beyond, as I am often one minute late for 420 due to my highly functional lifestyle. What that means is that many smokers like to have a celebratory toke at 420 every day, but it’s almost a joke to miss it by a few minutes.

A lot has happened in the last several months since we started posting. We now have 421 followers, more than I honestly expected in such a short time. Anarchapulco happened here recently which was a new experience for me despite having attended the previous years. You see, I’m used to attending conferences with no one knowing who I am and this years Anarchapulco was the first time for me where this was NOT the case, and it was weird. It was flattering, but weird. I couldn’t help I was being rude as I’d try to be friendly to everyone who approached me, sadly cutting off some really good conversations midsteam. I’m not very good at socializing, guys.

And without Steemit, I wouldn’t quite have the following that I do. So many people approached us to tell us they read my stories. Many asked if I was being truthful on Steemit, but when they were presented with me, my box of pipes and my bag of edibles it was hard to argue the facts. I do my best to give people as much of a reality based view of me as I can, and considering how people responded to me at the conference, I think I’ve done a good job of it.

Things are different here, both socially and financially. We don’t consider ourselves to have made it because we haven’t. We’re realistically just getting to the point where we aren’t freaking out on the daily about where rent is going to come from. We are in the beginning stages of many big exciting business ventures which will swallow our time in the future. If everything goes according to plan, this time next year we should be at a point where we can say we made it.

So if that happens, in just two years from crossing the border into Mexico we will have gone from broke to wealthy, crazy concept right? It’s totally possible, more so than in the states. Even with the progress we’ve made at this point, we’ve defied just about all odds. I encountered many people who recognized me from last year who said something along the lines of “You’re still here!!” or “I was worried about you last year.”

Honestly there were MANY points where we didn’t expect to make it to the next Anarchapulco, let alone to the point that we have. It just gives us a little encouragement and satisfaction to know that life seems to be telling us we’ve made the correct choice in things. Things have been so tough to this point it at times got hard to tell if we were even fighting for the right thing, as everything was going wrong. From what I can tell, those trials were life’s way of making sure I could handle and truly appreciate the good stuff.

So hopefully our five year streak of crap luck will continue to have ceased, or at least mostly so. Life happens but when it rains, it pours and that’s the truth. Things get tough and then they get tougher to make sure you’re still paying attention. Just when you’re about to give up, you make a change like leaving the country and things start rolling in the right direction. If you’re feeling stuck, consider the fact that you might be going about getting your dreams in the wrong way. It doesn’t mean your dreams are wrong, you might just be following them in the wrong place or by the wrong means.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about life from living here in Mexico, it’s to throw all expectations out the window. Keep your dreams, but the stuck your expecting to happen almost always won’t and if it does it’s not going to be how you expect. The same holds true for life. No use in getting upset because things aren’t going as planned, if you adjust and keep working hard eventually it’ll be completely different and often times better than you expected. Stick to your guns when you have to, but recognize if you’re getting upset over something you can’t change. There’s a clear difference and Mexico has taught me that.

Many consider Mexican’s lazy because of concepts like “mexican time” or “siestas”. Having observed the incredibly hard working Mexican culture up close for a year now, that’s not the case. Their lives are realistically structured in a way to maximize both productivity and creativity. Science has proven polyphasic sleep schedules, which includes ones that have a daily nap like in Mexico, helps people with both of those things. Mexican’s are often late because a job can become much bigger and grander than once originally intended. I’ve had many situations where I’ve had plans put off with a Mexican friend, only to have the end day be even better. Good things come with time!

There’s a lot to be learned from living in a happier culture, that’s for sure. One can only get that experience by traveling and trying new places, and for Americans a good landing pad for that sort of thing is Mexico! We’re already familiar with the food and people, so it’s a comforting sort of culture shock. Mexico isn’t perfect, it’s actually pretty corrupt, but it’s honestly so and I appreciate that. The people here aren’t blissfully ignorant, they’re beautifully aware of the corruption and that’s what makes this place different.

So yeah, a lot has happened for sure and I’m glad it has! Thanks to everyone for reading, it gives me motivations to keep going on projects and revamp older ones, like my struggling garden. It’s also motivated me to look into time management, so I can get more of my responsibilities handled on the daily basis. Life is a journey, thanks for watching me share mine on Steemit!