MY LIFE - MOVING AT THE SPEED OF MY LEARNING CURVE
I'm having to learn a whole new set of skills just to progress these days.
So I'll be honest here (not that I would consider doing otherwise) I don't exactly have a lot of experience in certain areas of life. When I grew up, I didn't like work all that much. I pretended to be afraid of the vacuum cleaner for years, and never had to vacuum. I did a horrible job on the riding lawnmower, so my younger brother had to take over.
As I grew things didn't change much. I would buy fast food rather than cooking, have someone else change my oil, and basically only do what I wanted to do, which was mostly partying. Other than when I needed a paycheck, I didn't really work hard at anything. Basically, I became a giant lazy child.
As I grew older, I became an older, giant lazy child. Bringing such a skill set into my marriage and now my parenting was not really a huge benefit. Trying to adjust into the homesteading lifestyle has come with a learning curve, but thankfully I remain humble and teachable.
AGE ISN'T A FACTOR
In my neighborhood, there are seventeen year old kids who know more about a lot of things than I do. Simply put, they grew up differently than I did and therefore have a different understanding and skill set than I do. When I used to lay hardwood flooring in the Branson, MO area, I had to take quite a bit of instruction from the main contractors seventeen year old son.
For some, "being bossed around" by someone half their age may not be appreciated. However, this "kid" has been around this type of work his entire life and is now becoming the fourth generation of hardwood floor guys in his family. Even by helping his dad during summer vacation he would have been exposed to more of that particular job than I would, having never done it before.
It is not the age of man that matters in a situation like this, it is the understanding. If I would prefer to not receive help or pointers from someone a few decades younger than me because of pride, then I could continue being ignorant and miss out the understanding that he could impart.
A lot of the work that I am currently doing on my land is able to be done more quickly by using heavy machinery. I actually have friends who have lent me their tractors, skid steers, and a stump grinder. However, I have no experience in any of this. I've never operated these types of machines before. It is a huge blessing that someone would let me use theirs, but they have their own lives and own business to take care of. To get the job done, I'll need to do it.
MOVING AT THE SPEED OF MY LEARNING CURVE
Because I have no previous experience with these things, how quickly the tasks get completed depend on how quickly I can learn how to do it. Also, I am then responsible for maintaining the equipment. I've spent some time and money making sure that things like oil, hydraulic fluid, and diesel fuel level are all being maintained.
Also, to prepare the house site on my land I have to periodically switch between the stump grinder and the angle blade that I user for scraping. This means detaching one attachment and hooking up the other. Sometimes it can be trickier than you would think, especially for a novice.
Earlier this week I had to have another teenager help tell me what to do. He's an incredibly capable young man with a lot of experience in certain things, while I'm mostly clueless but willing to learn. In some weeks of his life he's probably dealt more with tractors than I have my entire life. How could I not allow him to tell me what to do?
It's not only my learning curve, but my willingness to be taught that is going to allow me to succeed in these things. In order to learn the skills that I need, I must be taught. If the only one available to teach me is a "kid," then I had better be willing to let him teach me.
I haven't really equipment like this before, but I haven't even really used tools before either. I'm not proud of it, it's just the way that I chose to live my life. Now, I'll need to learn how, and thankfully I can show my children a few things along the way. Some things they will be able to learn with me, and not have to wait until they grow up to learn.
I hope that there is something that you can take away from this post, and I hope that you remain humble and teachable. I know that I'll have to, or these things will take me forever!
I think that the main reason people say "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is because of the mindset of the dog. If we want to, we can learn all sorts of things no matter how old we get, and there is no reason not to.
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-i-am-learning
Until next time…
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Hahaha this is so true: It is not the age of man that matters in a situation like this, it is the understanding. @papa-pepper you are so correct and I am so proud of your willingness to learn and take action. Keep up the good work and send my greetings to @papa-pepper tribe . Do not forget to see my post on Dtube ability to kill Youtube when you are free...wish you success
Thank you! I appreciate that!
Man this one hit me where it hurts! We bought our farm just over a year ago and it is exactly what this lazy man has been waiting for my whole life.
Something about doing work for a paycheck is just soul sucking while doing work to provide for you and your family gets me moving from dusk til dawn.
Also, I'm never worried about the ridicule I get from men of all ages when asking about something they just take for granted. After they're done laughing and realize I seriously don't know then they are happy to teach me and lend a hand.
That's right! They get a good laugh, and an opportunity to help!
Never Stop Learning, Always be a Student. That is my motto. I try to learn something new every day.
Well said my friend!
Very humble and a great way to remind me of how I need to be more willing to try new things. Learning how to tile, enclose a carport, lay flooring, etc was mostly self-taught; however, I'm timid when it comes to heavy equipment like that. I'll keep your story in mind next time I have a chance/need to jump on one. Thank you.
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Thank you! I get a lot of self taught things too, but some stuff you just need to be taught.
Very true. ....plus, having someone else around for 1:1 can be kind of nice... youtube videos showing me how to do something don't exactly answer me when I talk to them....
humble and teachable is the way to go my friend. you are a shining example of that.
Thanks @teamhumble!
One of the MOST important parts of being a human is to ALWAYS be learning. If we are always looking to learn then we are always in a receptive, teachable state. Homesteading is killer for immersion training and just like immersion language learning, will generally be the fastest way to learn YOUR way of doing things.
You are so right! Thanks!
God bless you. Constancy and discipline is my advice to you.
Thank you!
GIF DUMP = SAVE FOR LATER
wish you a good luck.
Another saying "never to old to learn" .You are living PROOF.
That is right, and it is also correct! Thanks @manorvillemike!