As another growing season comes to a close and the holiday season rapidly approaches (seriously, how is it mid-November already?!), this is the time that I usually start to reflect on the past year and make plans for the next. I start imagining where I might go on vacation next year, or sketch out some rough ideas of things I’d like to accomplish. (I know it seems early to make New Year’s resolutions of sorts, but I’ve previously discussed my wild, far-reaching imagination, so it’s no surprise that I start already.) Inevitably, this leads to remembering the plans I made for last year and how many of them I didn’t wind up accomplishing, but thankfully, my response to that line of thinking is almost always laughter, not regret.
Let me explain: If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s laughing at myself. I’ve never been one to take myself too seriously, and I do not shy away from sharing the tales of my various foibles with those around me, from the eventful evening where I broke two bones in my foot dancing and wound up in the emergency room, to the time I locked myself out of my car on the coldest day of the year—with the car running. I wish I could say that the embarrassments end there, but that would simply be untrue.
Of course, I could just keep this (ever-growing) list of mishaps quiet, but instead, like Oscar Wilde mentions above, I choose to laugh at my own clumsiness and momentary lapses in brainpower as consolation for them. They’re a part of who I am; why not get a little pleasure out of them while also spreading the joy around?
The same is true for my “failed” plans—there’s no sense in getting myself down about failing to stick to the (admittedly intense) workout regime I planned for 2013. Instead, I think back to that time I accidentally kicked a wall while doing a home workout, putting myself out of gym condition for a week or so, and laugh while I start thinking about trying again in the upcoming year.
This attitude does not only pertain to embarrassments or minor physical injuries—it’s easily adaptable to life on the farm, too. Your hopelessly unorganized planting schedule backfired and you didn’t get as much planted as you wanted to? Chuckle about it with some friends, and then plan ahead for next year. Trust me, it helps to imagine yourself as the trait you want to be; I imagine myself that I’m coordinated all the time, and I think it’s slowly working! I haven’t tripped and fallen over my own two feet in almost six months. (Knock on wood.)
You’ll be surprised how much a healthy sense of humor about yourself can brighten up your life, and allow you to take on new risks and challenges. Considering raising goats next year? Go for it! Just imagine the delicious goat cheese you’ll be making this time next year, and remember to keep yourself humble. If the first cheese-making endeavor goes sour (literally), you’ll have a hilarious story to tell at parties. Just be careful of the dance floor while you’re there—it’s slipperier than it might seem.
Tell us about some of your most embarrassing farm moments!
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