Life can be hard. It can throw you curve balls you never expected to happen. Divorce. Loss of job. Loss of spouse. Car accidents. Loss of child. Many things can happen. They all take time, love, and patience to recover from.

Sometimes, though, people stay tethered to those events. They let those events define them and give them excuses for their actions and non-actions. In some cases, their family and friends label them and keep them tied to the events. For many reasons, this bothers me.

I ran into an acquaintance yesterday. I had just purchases plants for my garden: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and onions. She asked what I was doing and I explained I had just been to the garden center so I could get more of my garden planted. She looked at me strange and asked why I would want to do that. I explained that I got a lot of satisfaction raising my own food and not having to rely on the grocery stores. I also explained that by raising my own food, I could be independent from the food stamp system and not need their services.

She could not believe it! She said “Why would I want to do that? That was just crazy!” I then found out that since she had gotten divorced and lost a very good paying job, she felt life was easier to rely on welfare and child support to pay her way in the world. She felt that the world owed her and that, with the kids and the stress in her life, there was no way she could hold a job.

I was actually very saddened by this. I know what it is like to be on food stamps, daycare assistance, and state insurance. When I wasn’t getting child support, I had to do these things. I still worked though. I felt very defeated when I had to apply for food assistance because I felt like I was letting myself and my family down. Luckily I had some great people around me who let me know that I was doing what I had to do to feed my family and that I would be able to break away from this when my circumstances improved. Which they did.

I think in this country we have lost the ability to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. We have let our circumstances define us and make us who we are. We need to break away from this because our country has become a dependent country with the attitude of ‘let someone else take care of us’. That is just wrong.

We need to start taking personal responsibility for ourselves and becoming self-sustainable again. Many people are starting to do this, but are meeting a lot of opposition. City ordinances, zoning laws, homeowners associations, and governments at all levels are finding ways to not let people take care of themselves. Many different systems with many different rules makes the trap harder to escape from.

We can do this though. Be an encouragement for those around you who have difficult circumstances and let them know they can pick themselves up and keep going. Encourage those around you to depend on themselves and not someone else. Encourage self-sustainability.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

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