Blog Post

Maybe you just need a change in perspective.

Hey,

I’m in a busy season of life, and maybe you are, too. Between business, family, teenagers, community activities and everything else we have to juggle in our lives, it seems like life and decision-making keep getting closer. Almost like I’m living life right in front of my face.

If you’ve raised teenagers, you know what I mean. You’ll hear things such as, “This test is life or death”, or “If I don’t get my drivers license, everything’s over”, or “I can’t stand this [INSERT person/place/thing/idea] for one more minute”.

That’s living life “right in front of your face”. As we age, the notion of wisdom might simply mean that, no matter what is ‘right in front of our face’, we have the ability to put it into context and into a longer view, a wider perspective.

Nice thought, but sometimes, you need a life event to shake things up, a “shock to the system”. I got two of those this week. First, we held a memorial for my Aunt who passed away nearly a year ago, but the family couldn’t gather until now.

What an event to ‘shock the system’. As we remembered her, we connected and reconnected as a family, enjoyed each other’s company and celebrated what was happening right now in our lives. It was like hitting the Pause Button on the world, just for a few moments.

The second was the helicopter flight in the video above. We’ve been working so hard to get things mowed, weedwacked, painted, raked, dried out, prepped and ready for the Fall season, that, until viewed from above, I’d missed the magic of it all.

As we toured the farm from a bird’s-eye-view, looked into the distance, saw first-hand the straight rows of newly planted trees, the bright colors of the life-sized board game, the crisp pathways of the maze, it really sank in the vast amount of good, hard work we’d completed this year.

I left early two days this week, but I wasn’t done. The To-Do list still stretched out before me, but I wanted to see my son’s soccer games. It wasn’t convenient, but it was worth it. It was a much needed shift in perspective. What’s all this hard work for, if I can’t spend a little time cheering on my kids?

So, the question is: Are you feeling as if life is happening too fast and right-in-front-of-your-face?

I share from experience, that all the things to do will still be there, even after you hit the Pause Button. This week, I took a moment to change perspective, both mentally and physically. I mean, why wait for a death in the family, for a big ‘shock to the system’?

We often have much greater control of our time, and therefore our lives, than we are led to believe. Why wait for the ‘shock’?

Apples, pumpkins, mazes, and donuts are here – heck, everything is ready on the farm! If you need to hit the Pause Button with your family, the beautiful countryside you see in the video above is real, and you can enjoy it this weekend.

See you soon on the farm,

Farmer Hugh

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