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The Country Register
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Dear Reader...
If ever there was a “mission statement” to my way of living - the quote I’m sharing with you in this column is it. Ever since my good friend Cindy spotted it during an outing, I impulsively purchased and hung it on my bedroom wall where I could see it first thing every morning - and I’ve never regretted it as I have many of my other “impulsive” purchases!
I’ve always figured that life is meant to be experienced - as in total immersion rather than merely ‘taste testing’. Yup, I’m the one that jumps in with both feet rather than just pondering whether it would be a good idea or not. The way I figure it, I won’t be able to get a fair trade-in value for this old ‘bod’ whether it got high or low mileage, and although I make a rather respectable attempt to treat it with respect and care, condition really won’t matter either, since trading it in for a newer model just isn’t an option!
I can appreciate a well maintained low mileage “always stored inside” type life, but in my world I could never call that a life well lived. Sure I’ve done some crazy, stupid things, certainly had times I wish I could erase or change, but to me they have been learning experiences - things I can use to help others figure out their direction in life, and they have shaped who I’ve become - which is someone I can live with compatibly.
Yes, there have been moments of reality when I’ve looked in a mirror and wondering why I’m looking more like a Shar Pei than a human, but most likely it’s from all that time outdoors - I like to think that most of the wrinkles are laugh lines... and besides, they add ‘character’, right??
Sure there are parts of my obsessive live-life-to-the-fullest nature that can be frustrating - like pushing myself with outdoor yard clearing to the point where I’m walking like a hunchback for a week, or planning to paint a room and ending up renovating half the house... or that time I dragged my husband out for a little nature walk and we ended up on a half-day hike that had me clinging to a crumbling bank at the top edge of a cliff swearing that if I managed to crawl up those last five feet without tumbling to my death I would never overdo it again.
So as I pull my aching high-mileage body out of bed at 5:12 this morning to wrap up this issue and get it sent off to the press so I can spend the day helping my neighbours brand their calves, I just hope they’ve got lots of coffee and a great big helping of lunch for me... and that pushing those critters around in the mud will loosen up these creaking joints!
- Ruth

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