A "can do" attitude.

I read not lang ago what another homesteading woman wrote, that I think sums up pretty much how I am learning to think myself these days: If you don't belive you can do it, even before you try to do it, then you set yourself up to fail. Whatever you belive, you are right.

She also mention what Anthony Hopkins said in a movie called "the edge": "what one man can do another man can do". His point is a belief that he can do whatever he sets his mind to because other people have done it.

This has helped me a lot this last year. Whenever I feel doubt in my abilites, I remind myself of what other women have done, and set my mind on doing it. Of course, it can be really hard sometimes, changing the way you think, it's not done in a day, but has to be repeated and repeated. But all the challenges this last year has, or should at least, prove me that if I can get through that, doing everything that got me here, then of course there is no point in thinking that I'm not able to do more. The proof is already there, you just need to remind yourself of it, and give yourself credit for it. That can be harder then you think sometimes. It is often easier to give others praise for their achivements, but not yourself. If you think back on your life, I'm certain there are plenty of hard times you have gone through too, that you wasn't sure you would be able to. Still, you did it, often because you had no choice. And it is often when life throws at you events that you can't run from, that you learn how strong you really are, and that you have the ability to handle them and much more. Often surprising yourself in the prosess. You can do amazing things, you just don't know it yet.



Having someone who inspires you really helps. And there are plenty of other women who I admire for their courage, calmness about life, stubborness, and just pure "of course I can do this" attitude. It doesn't mean that I am going to jump out of airplanes, or start taking risks I'm not comfortable with, just because other women are doing it, what would be the point in that? I will never be Wonder woman, nor would I want to. But it does mean that when it comes down to doing practical things on the homestead, I belive in my abilities to learn what I don't know how to do. And if it goes wrong, then I learn how not to do it. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, it's by making mistakes that we learn and get the most experience. If you have come across people who don't allow you to make mistakes, they are certainly not good teachers! It is the most natural thing in the world. And of course the satisfaction of success tastes that much sweeter when you do get it right!

If you don't have the same strenght as a man, nor have an extra pair of hands nearby that can show up when you need it, you have to work around it. The trick it to work smarter, not harder, and be creative. It is less a strength thing anyway, as to just having to learn how to do certain tasks, and compensate doing them alone with tools or other methods. And there are plenty of resourses out there that can show you just that; by using the internet, books or asking other homesteaders. So many people out there are living this lifestyle by themselves, some even way past 70 years, still going strong, still living their dream. Some have never even doubted they could live this way, doing everything themselves, so there certainly is a lot of good advise and inspiration to find from their experience! 

After reading a lot of how other homesteaders are doing this, the general advice is to to just break things up to smaller tasks, and prioritize. Start with the first part, and continue. Little by little. Slowly and steadily, things get done. And of course, one big project, and only a couple of smaller ones at the same time, or you will never get anything done, and just end up burnt out and discouraged. Though I wish I could adopt that mentality to my hobby projects! Always too many!

It's quite incredible how a big life change, that can be both painful and life altering, can make you grow and change you in ways you never expected. If someone told me I would be doing this, a year ago, I would never have belived them. It was a dream I had certainly, but living it and actually doing it, that was a reality I did not expect I actually would do one day. And not already a year later. It is amazing how fast things can change. Never doubt that your dream may come true, even though it doesn't seem like it today. Who knows what you are doing a year from now, it can be quite amazing things!

Have a great week!

Heidi