What really matters

[cakadu]

Maybe this isn't the place to post this, it might better belong in the rural issues forum. Over this past year and a half, we've all had plenty of opportunity to talk about the stresses that have gotten to us and in return have gotten support and people who know and can empathize with what we are going through.

To me what is important is having what makes up quality of life for me - which doesn't include money, a big house or a fancy vehicle. Last night I lost part of my quality of life because somebody hit my Lab on the road, just outside of our driveway. We don't know why she was out there, she generally never gave us any trouble, was outwardly "vicious" but was so timid it was laughable. She was just over 3 1/2, so had lots of life ahead of her, or so we thought. Her favorite pasttime was going out into the pasture to hunt for gophers, moles and mice.

We quite often get caught up in making that dollar, getting through the day and just the plain old stress of being a producer. More and more I'm realizing that one just has to live in the moment and be grateful for what they do have.

I'm really going to miss Annie and her antics around here, but she left me with a lot to smile about as well.

I feel much the same way about all who contribute to the site, there is always something to be learned, an understanding ear and great conversation. To me, that is what really matters.

[STOUT]

Linda, you have captured in a few words what is the most important in life. Too often we don't 'smell the roses along the way' in our quest for material things and our own perceived power. Life is really about people, family, caring about our neighbour, and yes, a baby donkey and our beloved pet lab. Those who are fortunate enough to realize all this, are a lot more content than those who spend the best years of their lives chasing the eternal pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

[farmers_son]

Sorry to hear about your pet. The following site may be helpful: http://www.pet-loss.net/surviving.html

[wheat]

Our management unit(Family) feels very out of touch with the 2 income neighbours we have. Their kids laugh at how small our kids allowances are. No wonder there is no optimism for going into this way of life( business) Kindest candolences for your loss, a dog is so much a part of a family, we are dreading the near future when we have to put our old friend down.

[redcountry]

how very true, sorry for your loss a dog becomes a part of the family.

A world as we know it can change in a second.
On oct22 at 330pm I was in the field cutting corn silage when my cell phone rang, my wife said "your brother Russell's been killed by a potatoe truck".
My world will never be the same, even today I find it hard to write this.

[cakadu]

I am so sorry for your loss redcountry, that truly is something that does change your world forever. May you find comfort in knowing that others care and can empathize with what you are going through.

We tend to struggle to find logic or a reason, where there really isn't one, because we try to desperately to make sense of an accident or a tragedy of some sort.

What it emphasizes is the fact that we don't know how much time we have, so we need to spend what time we do have in pursuing the things that matter most - the love of family and friends.

My deepest condolences on your loss.

[bombay_43]

I think we all have the tendency to go about our merry ways, thinking that bad things happen to other people. Right up until reality jumps up and smacks us in the face!

Death, accidents, sickness and sorrow, are the part of living, that make us appreciate when things are going smoothly! They are the realization that we are not immune to all the horrors that we hear about on the news every night. They make us look at how fragile and unpredictable life can be, and how utterly indispensable someone we love really is.

Most of us on this forum, have realized that life really is a “blink” but how we chose to live it, is up to each of us. As you pointed out Linda, all too often we forget the things in life that really are important!

My heartfelt condolences go out to all who are suffering!

[Deb]

It has to do with patriarchy and family values. The government and nation is like a family. In Canada, we follow the nurturing family model where mom and dad are equal partners. In the U.S., thanks to religious fundamentalism, they follow the strict father model of the family. The American family father says the world is a dangerous place and there is evil out there. the world is competative, they say, and there will always be winners and losers. there is absolute right and absolute wrong, they say. Thanks to fundamentalist Christianity, they say all children are born bad and have to be made "good". They think that they need a strict father to teach the children right from wrong because the father is the moral expert. So they use violence to teach kids right from wrong. those kids grow up using violence too.

The U.S. government is modeled after the strict father-figure. they also assume that strictness, morality and prosperity are linked. So if you are not moral (and the father/state decides what is moral) you deserve to be poor. In the U.S. it is the duty of each individual to maintain self-interest and not go trying to help the rest of society. You must try to be rich because it will point to how moral you are. The single mother is of no account.

In Canada, because we follow the nurturing parent model, we prefer to believe that if you take care of others first, they will, together, take care of you. So we prefer to support the underdogs and the "least of those" in order to raise us all up.

The U.S. thinks that social programs that take care of people are immoral. Canadians think the opposite. The U.S. thinks giving big tax breaks to the wealthy, and cutting benefits to single mothers and old age pensions is moral.

You all should read, "Don't Think of an Elephant" by George Lakoff for the answer to why the U.S. and Canada are so different.

[ivbinconned]

“People (you) constantly speak of "the government" doing this or that, as they might speak of God doing it. But the government is really nothing but a group of men, and usually they are very inferior men. They may have some better man working for them, but they themselves are seldom worthy of any respect.” – H.L. Mencken

[Deb]

Well, yes, that is what I mean: the government made up of men who believe in punishment rather than nurturing, run the show in the United States.

[ivbinconned]

Deb, there are alot more "women" holding positions of influence in the U.S. than in Canada!!

[Deb]

Very few women in politics here and there. Why would a nurturing woman want to go into a lion's pit like government politics? Condy Rice is the scariest woman I can name in politics these days.

I liked Deb Grey, even if she was in the wrong party

[ivbinconned]

"scariest", Deb you need to stop listening to the liberals and their favorite...the CBC! And start thinking for yourself.
Your little rant was nothing more than regurgatated central canadian dribble that is as usual, 10% fact and 90% wild imagination!
I will grant you your opinion but please... we are not children here, so don't try to pass it off as FACT!

[Deb]

I've watched her boss launch an illegal invasion on a sovereign country and watched the U.S. go into a multi-trillion dollar debt. She supports his empire building efforts. I've heard her speeches so I'm not imagining things.

[ivbinconned]

Ya right and Canada is lead by men of high moral convictions!! PLEASE read the two new threads at the top.

I note you like to change the subject Deb after my pointing out to you that "women" ARE in more prominant positions in the states than in Canada, proving some of your coments completely false.

Admit it...it is not so much your silly notion of a "male dominated" culture that bugs you as it is the fact that their exists some succesful "women out there that are "conservative"! Even Hillary is trying to appear more conservative.

Take note of something else too please. You where ranting about how fortunate we are to have our "canadian" way of doing things. Let me point out to you that this is an AG form that has been embroiled in dicussions about the beef border closure, and quite often about the fact that American Corporations own our packing industry and have been ****ing the industry.
Let me ask you this question, if you can relate to this issue. Why has your beloved Canadian Liberal government and cultural ladership allowed American Corporations to come into Canada and operate in a manner that they are NOT ALLOWED to, in the United states???

In the states the government has in place restrictions on their activities so they can not manipulate the market...in Canada, none!! Has our Canadian liberal government been bought...it would seem so. All the while trying to give the opposite impression

And you feel protected?? No you've "binconned"