ARE YOU A SELF-STARTER?

Good Morning Kindred Hearts! 

Being a Self-starter, being a disciplined person in thought, feeling, word and action....we should Strive to Master these skills.  The Truth is, and this sounds brutal, but if you are not a Self-Starter, if you are not a disciplined person.....this way of life will bring no thing but misery. The definition of these two words can not be considered as an abstract....they are absolutes.  It is not "I am somewhat of a self-starter....or I can be disciplined". It is all or nothing here. Anything else will not bring a lasting, permanent success. I think perhaps these are the two qualities, that when there is a lack....bring depression and severe anxiety.  For if these two Masteries are not in evidence at all times, you will not Trust yourself...there will always be this inner nagging of anxiousness, not ever sure if you will do what is necessary when the challenge comes, whether you can really count on yourself. 

So unfortunately, I cannot recommend this way of life if you have trouble getting up and getting at it; whatever calls.....getting on it immediately. If you have trouble with procrastinating....again, this is going to cause a headache of big problems.  Living this life requires a personality that ultimately chooses to be Sunny in Nature....yes, we have our times where darkness is what we initially see....and those of this Nature, this Sunny disposition....you know what is being Spoken here....this language.  The ability to see Good where it initially appears there is none. 

And here is a story exampling that.  Remembering that there is no such thing as a closed door....what seems to be a closed door is ALWAYS an open door....we just need to cultivate the ability to see thru the dark with the clarity of a noon day Sun. 

When I initially put in the water pipe running to this property, I put one vertical galvanized pipe above ground.  Off this galvanized pipe were a myriad of shutoffs and PVC pipe that run to all the places I need water. I foolishly attached the electrical ground to the water pipe at ground level and over the years dirt built up around it.  Ignoring the law of physics, or not understanding it.

As the ground became wet around the pipe, it reacted to the ground wire and began to rust thru the pipe. I could see that water was leaking from the pipe, the ground was always damp....but those who live this life know there is a priority to everything.  We run our lives according to priority and we are constantly in a state of re-ordering those priorities. This particular one kept be shuttled to the end of the long, long list of things I have to get to. 

Well, the last week my brother who is disabled....for some unknown reason he decided to lean on that pipe.  And guess what? It broke off. My main shutoff is probably a long city block from the property. I ran down there and shut off the main water valve.  Well, as so often happens...it is not summer, it is winter.....a time when it could have been a little less challenging has passed. It is now 45 during the day and high wind time of year.  I do not mind the relative cold here, 45 is as low as it gets here during the day but wind, 30mph+ winds make it a not so much fun project. 

I came inside. Sat down.  Stared out the window. Rain is forecast, it is a no sun day. This is a bigger deal than it sounds.  The pipe has rusted into the main inlet. Cheater bars, rust spray, nothing is working.  I can not get it out to replace it.  The thread screws have rusted into the thread on the bigger pipe. Plumbers are expensive and more so in a rural setting for they charge you for travel time.  Okay....that is out. What now?

I wait for direction, but in the back of my mind is that chastising of myself. I normally keep all the water storage barrels filled, all the duck water storage barrels filled. AND they are empty. No one close to get water from.  I procrastinated because....well (whining) it was so cold outside. I was going to do it tomorrow when sun and no wind was forecast. I wait. 

A little while later comes direction. Ah....YES!  Cut off the pipe just below where it is rusted and JB Weld (a girl's best friend) a 3/4 PVC cap on it.  Okay, I do that. I ran down to the main valve, turned it on......ran back (getting my extra curricular exercise for the day). Ah darn, its leaking considerably....that won't be a permanent fix.  So I go down to the barn, cut off a strip of heavy rubber from an old waterbed, grab a couple of pipe clamps. I fasten it around the pipe underneath the cap. Okay, still leaking but tolerable. 

Now what?  I come in, grab some warming food from my Mini Logic (you HAVE to have these).  Try to get centered. Procrastination has gotten me into a situation that adds to the problem of the broken pipe. I would have had more latitude with storage water available. (I end up having to drive to down, an hour round trip and spending $20 for water for the ducks).   

I do some internet googling "water pipe repair".  Amazon has a product but the reviews are so so. I keep Googling, feeling that the Amazon product isn't the direction.  AHA! I see a product called Perma Wrap....and they ship over night. Thank you! I ordered it, and sure enough, here next mid morning.  I read the directions a couple of times......assembled every possible thing I might need and GOT TO IT! It had to cure for an hour.....so I went and checked to see how everything was doing on the farm. 

An hour later.....I stare at the repair for a while, somewhat reluctant to turn the main water valve on - LOL.  I envision no leaks, I say it "This is a Perfect repair" and I see it so. I take Snow, my Great Pyrenees, and we walk down to the shut off.  I smile tentatively, still envisioning a Victory here. I turn the valve. I walk back, look in the hole. Well, Glory Be....no leak. All is well. Darkness has become Light! 

Now, this was not really a problem that came about entirely by procrastination.  What happened is several fold. First, I did hear, several times over the last couple of months.....fix the pipe.  I thought I had more time. I didn't. So it is always a learning process....when the phone rings, shall we pick it up and hear what is being said....or shall we say "oh......the phone is ringing....then answer the call but then say "oh, yes, alright, thank you.....but I have to go now (laughing).  It is an attuning process that never ceases. 

So with Sunny Disposition in hand....guess what?  The day after the pipe broke, the day I had to do the repair....was a bright, sunny, warm day.  And I realize that the breaking of the pipe was indeed fortuitous.....It could have happened at a much worse time....so the closed door that I initially saw....the "Oh, ANOTHER problem" (Because I am still trying to repair the roof)....turned out all in all, to be not such a big deal and I actually enjoyed the process. I ended up completely re-doing the whole shutoff system and I AM now ready for summer. Victory always brings Comfort in its wake. And ultimately how will we ever learn what we need to learn, to Master what we need to Master....it there are not corresponding Challenges.  Challenges are Opportunities. 

The problem I created was I had not kept the water storage barrels filled.  This might not seem like a big deal.....but what if the situation was more serious.....no filled water barrels left me vulnerable. Procrastination is a rare thing for me. But I need these things to happen once in a while to keep me on my toes.....for we, who live alone....complacency is not our friend.