Seeing gratitude as a homesteader

Gratitude has been a buzzword for a few years now. So I’m careful of my own use of the word and in making sure I don’t use it mindlessly. Gratitude can be seen every day. You don’t have to be a homesteader to experience gratitude, but I think us homesteaders can get into a rut sometimes where we confuse productiveness and work and doing things with just being present, in the moment, and having gratitude for our circumstances.

There are many reasons we can see gratitude in what we do every day. While it’s easy to be consumed by chores and getting things done, it’s in doing them with graciousness that we change the way we look at things. Warwick Schiller (who I bang on about in general), has a saying he uses in developing connection and relationship with horses, and I use it all the time, but he says;

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”

Warwick Schiller

Sit with that one for a moment, write it down in your notes on your phone, and just keep reading it back a few times. You’ll be surprised how much it starts shifting things for you instantly.

We scurry around, busy, head down, feet shuffling. Our minds are ‘multi-tasking’ – thinking of the shortcuts and easy ways to do things, trying to make our brains synapse in shorter segments to get to the end of the task quicker…our bodies can’t slow down, as we lift and push, walk, run and pivot and repeat it, again, and again, and again.

Now, imagine if, in all that scurrying and shuffling, you stopped and took a giant breath. You cleared your energy. You breathed in deeply, feeling the dewy drops of moisture in the air as they hit the back of your tongue as you swallowed them deeply into your belly. Slowing down, and taking a few seconds to be in the moment allows us to seek out that which is beautiful. And if we want to feel grateful? Then all we need to do is stop with the scurrying and shuffling, and take those moments to breathe deeply more often than we’re doing.

I’ve recently become more anti multi-task. It can be hard, because I am the type of person that thinks while I am waiting on one thing, I can get another thing going. For example, when we worked on the tie up area, we needed to wait for the concrete to set, so we started on chopping trees in the arena paddock. So something like that I find I can’t shake so easy. But when it comes to mindlessly scurrying around and trying to do 15 jobs at once, I am definitely making strides in stopping that. Why? Because productivity is not about how busy we are. The focus needs to change on doing things smarter, not harder. So multi-tasking for me is slowly being kicked out the door, as I lean into a new method of simple living that focuses on doing the best job you can at the time, and not 15 jobs in 5 minutes.

To See Gratitude Every Day You Need to Be Still

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practising gratitude.”

Brene Brown

When in the midst of it all we neglect to stop and take a few moments to be still, to breathe, to focus on ourselves, we miss the world. We lose time. Being still, even for a moment, means I can breathe and give my body the attention it needs.

“hello, are you listening?”

— my brain

With an analytical mind like mine, when I force myself to stop, my mind comes to a grinding halt so fast, because it thinks we have to get going at full speed again. But when I take the time it needs, giving myself stillness, I can slow the trailers following behind me at a safer pace. My heartbeat can be heard, and my soul feels refreshed.

Walking may not be considered ‘being still’, but although there is movement in the process, there is also a stillness that takes over.

Take a Walk with Me

Are you ready to be still for a moment?  Then take a walk with me around the farm through photos.  Let me show you all the ways I get to see gratitude every day.  And once our walk is complete, then step outside and take a walk around your own home, neighborhood, town, or community. 

Are you ready for a Gratitude journey?  Then let’s start right here.

I See Gratitude Every Day in….

This little raised bed that lets me grow food to sustain my family

Seedlings, for bringing new life, and sustenance

The joy of working in the garden, getting dirt on your hands and feeling the freshness of the earth

And watching new life appear

I See Gratitude Every Day when…

The animals watch out for each other, and us

The uniqueness of every chicken and duck and goose

And the joy they bring just by being themselves

I See Gratitude Every Day in…

The abundance the farm provides. Through vegetables…

Even if it means being attacked by an army of jam…

I See Gratitude in the Simplest Things…

The smell of fresh-dried linens…

A simple country table…

Knowing that taking a nap is okay…especially when it’s under the trees

For watchful neighbours…

And when those neighbors show up to mow the lawn…

I See Gratitude Every Day…

Knowing there is love, joy and gratitude woven into every day….

Take a moment each and every day to see the beauty around you. Learn to count your blessings, embrace the moment, celebrate the joys, and be challenged by the trials. 

See Gratitude Every Day. I promise. You won’t want to miss even the smallest thing.

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