I Did It All by Myself!

One of the things that’s been frustrating to me since I’ve lived out here at the Hermits’ Rest is that there are a lot of things that need to be done on a ranch that I simply can’t do. I’m a smaller than average person who has never had a lot of arm strength, even with all the yoga I used to do. I wish I were better at lifting heavy objects and reaching high things. I can’t do much about that other than practice.

Sometimes I feel as competent as a dead shrew.

But what I can do is keep trying to do things I’ve never done to try to get more self-sufficient. Today was one of those days, and I am very proud of myself. I’ve been trying to help out with more stuff outside, and I really wanted to get myself a little wagon to pull heavy things around (I was using my poop wheelbarrow for the time being). Lee got me a wagon that can carry 800 pounds at Tractor Supply, but it was “some assembly required.” I’d asked a couple of people to help me with it, but they were all busy with their own projects, and I appreciated all that work, so I understood. But I did want the wagon.

My very own wagon

So today I finished a big work project and rewarded myself by letting myself put that dang wagon together. The only help I got was Lee moving the box to where I could access it and my son telling me to use a smaller wrench to hold a nut steady. I assembled every bit of it myself. Like a champ.

You can take the sides down to carry wide things. Handy.

I have assembled a lot of furniture, but mostly I have used hex keys. For this, I had to go find wrenches. I found where the socket wrench set was and managed to find ones that were the right size. Then, I figured out how to assemble and use the wrench. I tightened bolts! I even had to find larger and smaller socket things (no idea what those are called), and I managed to do it.

There they are, in the drawers.

Then I put on wheels! Lee had to tell me how to bend a cotter pin (I forgot that earlier), but there they are, and they turn! The handle works. The sides go up and down. I made a wagon. Myself. That’s not much to some people, but I sure feel competent in the tool usage department.

I used some of these, too.

Of course, other work is getting done around here. I opened the door to my future tack room this morning to discover that all the walls are up and the entire ceiling is insulated. Wow! I’ll soon be able to put the feed in there, which will be great with as much as I have to feed Drew these days. The guys all did a good job. It feels fine in there, even without electricity!

I also took all the outdoor furniture in last night before more bad weather came (mostly just wind). Today I moved it back out and stuck some fake geraniums by the front door. Why fake? Because of everything in the front of the house being vulnerable to herbicides in the field across the road (but yay, it doesn’t appear to be planted in cotton this year). I did bring out my indoor/outdoor plants, too. It makes the front porch look more cheerful, I think.

The dogs seem to like it.

I’m on a quest for calm and cheerfulness around the house. I need it to become my safe place, since it’s my only place now. Having the tools I need and more beauty in the ranch environment helps. I’m still getting used to what is good looking at a ranch as opposed to a suburban house, but I’m getting there and am happy to see how many great tools and work areas we’re getting. Ranches are a work in progress, and ours is moving along well.

The dining set my friend Carol painted for me sure looks nice.

I hope I can continue to make small contributions to the work around here. It makes me feel better about being a part of the family, not just the irritating resident who doesn’t have much of a purpose.

Book Report and More: You Are a Badass

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Here’s another book I started out hating, so I put it down for a good while. It all worked out for the best though, because I picked it up right when I needed it most.

Ooh. It’s trademarked.

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, by Jen Sincero proved another point, too—you don’t have to buy into everything a self-help book says to benefit from it. I definitely disagree with stuff in the beginning and the whole ending section, but I loved the middle!

I got this book, because it’s the one my work book club selected. When I started out, I was really put off by the tone and all the assumptions the author made about who her readers were. They are most assuredly people who are not me. But then, those people need books, too, right? It’s meant for people in their twenties and thirties, from what I can tell from the popular culture references strewn throughout the text. And it is most certainly for Americans, for the same reasons.

Sincero does try to notice that not everyone has the privileges she has, but there’s a lot of exhortations to just DO a thing and all will be well. Plus, there’s an undercurrent of blaming people for their own misfortunes. I don’t think she intends it, but it does come across if you know anyone who is actually poor, abused, or has other big-ass hardships.

No doubt, a lot of people will enjoy her light-hearted tone and short, easy-to-read-in-a-sitting chapters. Sincero’s heart is in the right place, and I guess she’s just talking like a life coach, making me very glad, once again, not to have a life coach. She repeats that important notion that you’re fine just as you are, and that it’s okay to let go of things (andpeople) that don’t serve you. And I think for anyone setting out to figure out who they are and who they want to be, her ideas, visualizations, and focusing techniques can be truly helpful.

I thought hard about it and realized I know who I am, where I want to be in life, and how I’m going about getting there. I know where my blockages are and am laser focused on moving through them. (I am NOT perfect; I just already introspect the heck out of myself and keep changing and adjusting.)

Here’s What Was Serendipitous

The cool experience I had with You Are a Badass (registered trademark) is that I set it down from November until last week, when I realized I needed to read the next section for our long-delayed book club meeting soon. Then I said to myself, “Let’s just get this book over with, and kept plodding away.

Now, I’d been dealing with a person who’d been in my life a while, but whose habits and actions really bothered me. I talked about it in my bully post. I knew perfectly well what I needed to do to stop letting myself feel annoyed, and deep beneath my subconscious there was an elusive piece of insight I knew I needed to apply, but it had slipped my mind. Not to worry, by delaying reading this book until the right moment, my reminder popped up, right there on page 180.

p. 180, BINGO

I’ve heard that before, and even applied it to myself (for example, I learned to deal with a constant “my problems are worse than yours” friend by realizing I had that tendency, too, forgiving the friend, and working on my own shit. Y’all do NOT get to read about all my problems here (just things I want to share, in case they are helpful to someone), and you can thank that friend.

But yeah. Sincero’s example was even right on. This person feels as if he just HAS to be the smartest person in the room, delivering lectures at the drop of a hat, and not entertaining alternate ideas or thoughts. That is another tendency I fall into myself. I hate being wrong (or screwing up). Luckily, this is another thing I’ve worked on (and had a LOT of opportunities since I came to rural America). I no longer feel it necessary to trot out my knowledge of whatever it is I’m so knowledgeable about unless I really think someone WANTS to know about it or would make any use of my expertise. I’ve been called out on this a few times (Suna, aren’t you a professional writer? Why didn’t you say anything to that person pontificating about writing?) Unless it’s worth the effort, I’ll just let people figure stuff out for themselves; I don’t have to be Professor of Everything I Know About.

But, that does explain one reason that person annoyed me. That person also has a savior complex, and feels that it’s their duty to fix the problem of every sob story they hear about (human and otherwise). Helping others is good. Helping others to get attention for it is less great. And oh have I been accused of doing that in the past! I am pretty sure that, while I’ve helped some people, my motives may have been messed up some of the time. No wonder seeing that in someone else annoyed me.

Seeing this made me feel much better about needing some distance, and also helped me get over being annoyed. That leads to the next nugget I ran into, all about how to get past being irritated and move on. I needed a reminder of this, too.

page 123, the nugget of goodness

Right on! I am learning to talk to people I care about if I have issues with them, and to listen when people do that to me. She’s right, it can bring you closer. But, in the case of the bully, Sincero is dead right. It is totally useless to think about revenge, proving myself right (I am), or some other vindication. It’s not worth the mental effort nor the physical symptoms all that vitriol can cause.

I knew I needed to just let it go. I had been telling myself that, but this passage helped me realize it was for my own good to do this. If karma bites that person in the butt, I may not see it, but that’s fine. If it becomes clear to them that I was doing the right thing all along by resisting the bullying, well, maybe that will help them, but it won’t be my problem. I’m over here with people who like me, learning about being a better human being, and dealing with my own issues.

That’s plenty, right? I’m glad I came across those passages right when I needed them.

Small Warning

The last part of the book, where she goes into full-throttle, goal-setting, laser-focused dream achievement is something you might want to skip. The end of the book has advice that, if I took it, I’d be one miserable human being. I think it would be very hard to be so focused on some goal that you have no other life. Also, her belief in the Secret, or whatever it is, that things come if you just focus on them, well, it’s great for some stuff.

But it felt to ME that she came from a really entitled white lady space in a lot of the last part of the book. I don’t think she knows REAL struggle, systemic racism, and the like.

Just my thoughts. If you fit her intended audience, though, maybe you, too, can bring out the internal badass that’s always been there. I find that Brene Brown says similar things in a way that resonates more with me. But then, she is closer to my age.

something poetic

(formerly The Lost Kerryman)

Joys Of Creating

crafts, hobbies, gardening & nonsense

sara annon

seeking the middle path

Tonya's Tall Tales

My life with horses, bunnies, chickens, ducks, and cows.

rfljenksy - Practicing Simplicity

Legendary Whining and Dining World Tour.

The Backyard Horse Blog

All about keeping horses at home

Hazel's Animal Adventures

My life on the ranch.

Katie Zapfel

Children's book author. Mom blogger.

365 Knit Socks

I knit a lot of socks

recoveringpornaddictcom.wordpress.com/

Coach, author and educator

The daily addict

The daily life of an addict in recovery

C'est La Vee

Wish You Were Here

Happy Heidi's Happenings

My life in the country.

BrownesPups

A family of dog lovers, owners & breeders since 2015

The Adventures of a Mountain Coward

panic-stricken mountain adventuring!

Something Over Tea

Scribbles from my notebook

The Renegade Press

Tales from the mouth of a wolf

Heccateisis's Blog

Just another WordPress.com weblog

The Upstate Gardener

The Upstate Gardening blog with Gardening Information, Recipies, Home Improvement Ideas, and Crafts Projects to make your life more beautiful and healthy.

Nature And Photography

Bring Nature Into Life

AT PATHO

no streetlights, just star light

Words and Stitches

woolgathering at its best

The Grief Reality

Normalising the conversation about Grief.

iRoseStudios.com

Art Studio Dumfriesshire

The Creative Pixie

eat up some crafty goodness with this creative mama

Writings of a Furious Woman

My thoughts, sentiments, and scribbles on womanhood

Yeshua's Child Art

Art that Expresses the Heart

Chicken Coop Plans

Build Your Chicken a Home

Writing about...Writing

Some coffee, a keyboard and my soul! My first true friends!

Leaf And Twig

Where observation and imagination meet nature in poetry.

Hidemi’s Rambling by Hidemi Woods

Singer, Songwriter and Author from Kyoto, Japan.

Cathartic Tendencies

motivational posts, rants, and stories!

TotallyTexasGifts.com

Featuring Fine Arts & Crafts created and sold by Texans

Seasons As My Teacher

Truth Written In The Wind

claudiajustsaying

Aging & Attitude

The Tragedy Kween

A boisterous introvert illustrating her way through life.