Caught between a dollar and a dream

[Nat(wasIxy)]

@Robert MoonShadow 12200 wrote:

I see many mentions on ‘sacrificing’ this and that for “living the dream” –> I’m sorry, but I’m an American = I want it all, and expect it……Case in point: I don’t want or have any use for a nice car or even a big fancy new truck. What for?….Yep, I want it all…and I think I’ve got most of it.
Attitude, my friends. What do you really want?

It’s not usually the big stuff like cars and nice houses and foreign holidays – most people serious about this life don’t value things like that anyway, the two ideas don’t really go together.

For me it’s the little things – I could really do with a haircut, but there’s always something more important that what little money we have goes on. Maybe a haircut isn’t important to you, but I’m a girl and I like my long blonde hair to look nice 😛

I could also do with a hat for winter, last year’s has gone walkabout…I knwo the one I want, but I can’t afford it so I’m making do with a piece of frabric wrappen around my head to at least keep the wind off my ears. Likewise boots – my rigger’s boots have holes in, but I don’t really have the money for a new pair, I have shorter, good boots but need someting that goes higher up the leg – gaiters would solve it but see the answers above….

[Rod]

@Ixy 12220 wrote:

It’s not usually the big stuff like cars and nice houses and foreign holidays – most people serious about this life don’t value things like that anyway, the two ideas don’t really go together.

For me it’s the little things – I could really do with a haircut, but there’s always something more important that what little money we have goes on. Maybe a haircut isn’t important to you, but I’m a girl and I like my long blonde hair to look nice 😛

I could also do with a hat for winter, last year’s has gone walkabout…I knwo the one I want, but I can’t afford it so I’m making do with a piece of frabric wrappen around my head to at least keep the wind off my ears. Likewise boots – my rigger’s boots have holes in, but I don’t really have the money for a new pair, I have shorter, good boots but need someting that goes higher up the leg – gaiters would solve it but see the answers above….

With that much motivation and willingness to sacrifice you are bound to succeed. Good for you, hang in there.

[Robert MoonShadow]

Ixy ~ I would call those ‘unmet needs’, not “sacrifices”. Perhaps just semantics, but what I focused on were the examples given by others; such as vehicles, etc. Yours, I would truly call needs (although with long blonde hair, you probably look just fine, without a haircut ;)). But if the haircut leads to a positive attitude about oneself, then it is a need.
I was trying to point out that it’s mostly a matter of attitude, on whether it’s a ‘sacrifice’ or not. I shop mostly secondhand stores for my clothes and household items; partly because it’s what I can afford, but also because I see no reason not to…it’s usually just as good as anything I can buy for anywhere near that price. My Datsun p/u doesn’t haul or tow near as much as what that big Ford deisel does, but it does what I need it to…and with my attitude about it, it’s not a sacrifice, just a wise decision >>> I don’t need Navistar = I know how to use & fold a map. :rolleyes: That extra money can be used to spend on country-girls w/ long blonde hair. :p

[Scyther]

Stepping away from a job that seems to provide financial stability, if not real security is not easy. It’s tough to find a way to think of it as wise too. I’m speaking from my own situation, so can fully relate to the situation and feeling. Accept for those who have a trust fund, even a small one , safely to fall back on or to smooth over the rough spots, stepping out of a stable situation isn’t easy. This is not a knock on those with trust funds, I know a few such folks and I wouldn’t turn one down. True financial failure is a posibility and that’s a bit un-nerving. I see most who have done this have had it thrust apon them and it was sink or swim. I’m aproaching that place. Will have shoulder op. soon and be unable to do the work I’ve done for quite a few years after rehab. The job has really been losing ground lately, but letting go and trying something else has been hard to do. Now it’ll be a must do. This has showen me more clearly that a lot of what is thought to be “security”, is pretty thin really.” better to burn out, than to fade away”, as the Neil Young song goes. Be strong and confident all. Farmout:cool:

[Robert MoonShadow]

As you said, Scyther – most mainstream jobs aren’t really secure, anyways – methinks a lot of people are learning that, lately. It’s actually my main point; I look back at what my grandparents & their generation went through during the last great depression/recession {I really like the lessons to be gleaned from history}, and from this tired old brain of mine has come up with is this: those who had land, and knew, or could figure out how to, grow their own food & provide their needs from the land & extended environment around them, made it. A seldom mentioned tidbit from those days is that there were actually quite a few people who didn’t make it; starvation, disease, “street” violence = a lot of people died, during that time. Those who made it, had enough – actually the same amount as everyone else, but the difference, from what I can discover from listening to old folks, was the attitude. They didn’t fail to survive – to even have & raise children during those times, because they never quite felt that they wouldn’t = “failure is NOT an option”. Like my grandpa used to tell me; “You can come up with at least 99 reasons why you’ll fail…but you only need to find one reason to succeed”. My grandparents never once mentioned the word “sacrifice”, about those times.
These are just some things I try to keep in mind, when I feel I’m caught “between a dollar and a dream”. I’ve heard a lot of people say “I’m living my dream – I wouldn’t trade it for a million dollars!” >>> but I’ve never, ever heard even one person say “I’ve got a million dollars – I wouldn’t trade it to live the life of my dreams”
‘Nuff said?

[Scyther]

Well said. Or written as the case may be.

[Joshua Kingsley]

Some times the timing of an event couldn’t be worse. Weather injury or other factors there is always something that seems to stand in the way of following our dreams. I have recently taken the time to assess what is truly important in life to me after the injury that I had in June of 2008.
The after math of the injury is a lack of finances and credit to start a new farm venture. There is also a small factor of the physical injury that has to be taken into account. The advantages are that I do have the luxury of a healthy little boy and I have the knowledge of farming and homesteading.
Armed with the experiences and love of animals I now understand that each path we travel will shape our lives. Now I am attempting to set on a path towards following a revised version of my dream. I hope that what ever your situation everyone will strive to work for their individual dream. Don’t let the short dollar ruin what you want. There is a way no matter what to follow your dreams. Good luck on all your dreams and may they all come true in due time to those who are willing to follow through with what you truly want.
Joshua

[Robert MoonShadow]

Joshua; I think you hit on a very important point: allowing the dream to change & flow, as the circumstances warrant. After all, it’s YOUR dream; you can mold it into anything you want. And it’s a real skill – it takes practice and effort to ‘accept reality, while demanding excellence’, and developing the mindset that allows us to adapt, adopt & allow life to be good to us. I thought I might’ve been getting off-topic of this forum section, but not really: “Skills and Crafts” also menas mental/emotional skills, ayuh?
I hope your injury heals and allows you to enjoy fulfilling your dream with your boy.

[Carl Russell]

One aspect of having other people be a part of your dream is that the dream takes on a life of its own. Even though I have been living in an intuitive way for many years, I still fall into the slump where I try to evaluate where I am based on where I thought I would be, or on bad days, wish that I was.

Then I have to remember to trust the feelings that led me down this road, and try to open up again to the possibilities that are being thrust at me. The biggest obstacle to following dreams sometimes is not “seeing” the opportunities.

It is very easy, and understandable, to create a fixed image in our minds of stages and circumstances, but these can be impediments to forward motion. I know in this day and age of straight-line financial economics, and logical business planning it is nearly impossible to learn to trust intuition, “after-all a dream won’t pay the mortgage”, but in fact a dream is just that, a dream, and should be embraced as such.

I had, and have, circumstances that are different from many, but many others have circumstances that I consider more favorable than mine. I agree that part of the lifestyle that we all strive for has to be about “doing without” some of the aspects of life as we know it, but we can replace those things with other more tangible things, if we are open to seeing those changes as opportunities.

I have been both admired and despised because I am living my dream. Little do they know, it doesn’t mean that everything is peaches and cream. I still have to work hard, and make my money go as far as it can, and deal with the let-downs that come from poor weather, or poor planning, or both.

Remember it is a personal choice. How you go about it is up to you. You are the only one that needs to enjoy yourself. Don’t get impatient. Stay open, and let it be your dream.

Carl

[blue80]

The fact is, probably everyone is caught between a dollar and a dream-even those stuck with lots of dollars.

So in effect two futher definitions of people can be characterized?
Dream makers and dream breakers.
It seems reading through a lot of the information on this site, most involved are dream makers, not just with their own goals but also and sometimes especially with those around them. A wonderful example of “it is better to give than receive”
This is very refreshing for me to see, a young person with everything yet to learn with regard to becoming a teamster.

Currently I do mostly construction and excavation work to support my future horse farming habit, and have been focusing on better building technologies long before it was “cool to be green” But the building industry has become such a sales oriented, litigious, bonded and lobbied sector I have for years felt increasingly restricted, even though I am among the best at what I do, and profitable by the worlds standards.

But it wasn’t until I was immersed in working with horses this summer that a young guy said to me, “I’ve been watching you this week and I could tell you are a Christian. I haven’t been to church in about 20 years, but I am thinking about it again” Wow, in the last 15 years of construction, as hard as I have tried to be a Christian witness, nobody has come out of the blue and told me this. Thanks Dan, for your honesty and encouragement for me to follow my dream!

Could it be that for some of us, working hard with hard working animals makes our Father in heaven smile? I definitely think so.

Kevin

[OldKat]

This is a really good thread; some serious thoughts. When I think about what I would do if I had it to do over; I think I would do EXACTLY what Ixy is doing … I would have adopted the “just go for it” attitude. Sometimes I think we analyze business opportunities too much. I think many times the successful entrepreneur just finds something they have a passion for and charges ahead with their dream. They literally don’t know what they don’t know. They haven’t figured out that they can’t do it, so they go ahead and do it … if you follow what I am trying to say.

I don’t say this lightly as I am the guy that quit the best job I ever had at age 39 to pursue a business opportunity that fell flat on its face; taking almost our entire lives savings down the drain with it. So you have to be realistic to some degree.

However, trying to wait until everything is perfect and it all works out in order to transition from your current reality to the desired reality sometimes yields a harvest of bitter fruit. That is what I am dealing with right now.

Still, opportunities to rebound come in the most unexpected fashions and one of those unexpected opportunities is starting to shape up for me. It will probably mean relocating to another part of the country, but if it means that we can achieve our dreams we are more than willing to make that change.

I hope all of this rambling isn’t too confusing. Maybe I should have just said this instead; 1) decide what you want 2) figure out what can go wrong and make sure that it doesn’t (go wrong) 3) go for it & finally, 4) keep at it

Good luck to all with their dreams …

[Scyther]

I hear what Oldkat is saying. If a person is both fortunate and forthsightful enough to have a good, general vision of the path they want to take in life, in this case agriculture, it’s a great thing. To start out while you only have yourself to lookout for and be able to focus your attention, energy and money on this endever will give you a good start. This seems to not happen very often and leads to most of us,” limping along”, to get things going. One thing I have observed is that many who are successful in establishing farms close to how they’d like them is that they are tenasious about it. They push and hang on through the up’s and downs and setbacks. It may not always work out, but this seems to be a continuing thread in people that make a go of it. There are prices to be payed for such determination too, but they tend to reach their goal, or at least an adjusted goal as time goes on. Sometimes these things are fluid, as many of you know. Goal might not have been a good word to use, as it’s the journey that’s the real “trip” of it all. Making it “home” is rewarding too though. Good luck to you young ones, live the dream, and make the dreams good ones.

[Anonymous]

I love all that has be posted here all has been good knowledge but I believe we are missing some points here. We call what we are doing sacrifices I call em opportunities. Why, well what I do makes me happy (farming) than to not have new stuff is not a sacrific in my book it is something I really dont need I wont die without them. I have a friend who has never really been rich and when he grew up it was the depression era he says he never knew there was a depression going on except by reading about it in the paper. They grew everything on the farm and bartered for the rest. Now thats growing up RICH. I think as a country we believe we are supposed to keep up with the Jones’s and we loose sight in what is really real like family, friends, nieghbors etc. I watch as my brothers kids grow up without a father so he can run the roads everyday driving a truck so they can “have” exclude family with the video games and such. We need to get back as an American true value the meaning of family it doesnt mean I owe you it means Love, Care and Trust all of which we have lost. Money is just a way we as americans classify items. Why can we not barter for items of need. In areas where there is amish barter with them. Biggest point of all focus on what you have not on what you dont have and you with never know there is anything missing.

[Russel]

Ive always been under the impression that farmers in North America and Europe are subsidised heavily. Or is that only for industrialised farms?

[dominiquer60]

In the United States subsidies are for commodity crops like corn, wheat, soy etc. Our farm qualifies for subsidies but only on the corn and oats. Our vegetables, berries, eggs, hay, flowers, maple, beef and pork that we actually make money on do not qualify for government subsidies.

When you make a living off of thousands of acres of commodity crops with little to no control over the price, I can see how it is easy to depend on these subsidies. When you grow a small amount of commodity crops for your own livestock, subsidies are not a huge factor in your budget, if you even apply for them.

Erika

[Author]

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