A Lesson in Reality

As I am sure most of you already know, about two days ago my website over at heritagehomesteaders.com was hacked and ultimately destroyed. So what now? well, I was sitting on my porch this morning, watching my girls dig for their bugs and I contemplated as to what to do. Should I just give up on blogging? should I start all over on this website?

What does this have to do with homesteading you may ask? well, the root is the same (no pun intended), follow along with me for a minute here…

Every person who is new to homesteading has a vision of happy, healthy animals; an overflowing garden; and a life full of happiness and sustainability. Well, this is not a bad thing because it is this vision that propels us forward and motivates us to grow, adapt, and achieve those goals. However, what new homesteaders do not realize is that there is a lot of hard work that needs to be done on a regular basis; additionally, there are a lot of hard choices that have to be made and a lot of trials and tribulations.

Not one single homesteader has not failed in an attempt at something on their homestead, nor have they not faced a trial or tribulation but what sets a real homesteader apart from a hobbyist is that we take these challenges, we take these failures and we take these tribulations and we adapt, we learn and we eventually overcome and achieve the success that we want.

Our animals are important to us

Let’s face it folks, our animals are very important to our lifestyle. They provide for our families in many different ways, such as fertilizer or food, and each and every day rain, snow, or shine we are out there doing what needs to be done to keep them healthy, productive, and happy. They depend on us just like we depend on them… but sometimes something goes wrong and we have to make the ultimate decision.

Taking the life of the animals I have raised is not an easy thing for me to do here, as my animals grow, my love for them grows as well. Yes, I raise my animals for food to provide for my family, but nevertheless, it is not easy for me to do it when the time comes. I am always so very respectful to them, appreciative and thankful for the lives they have lived and for providing for my family.

Folks, this is just one example; a homesteader’s life is not easy by any means, you will have to make hard decisions, and you will face trials and tribulations but what you do with that information is what is key. Do you give up or do you start all over and keep learning and trying?

“When life gives you lemons…. make lemonade”

Now I am not trying to discourage anybody from pursuing this lifestyle, yes it is a lot of hard work, yes you will fail at times, but you will also have so much success and happiness. Just think about the time when you got your first egg and it was the best egg to have ever been laid in the existence of mankind; or the time you grew your first tomato and finally got to harvest it and it was the best tomato to have ever been grown in the existence of mankind!

So what does that mean for me, my website, and blogging… well you are here reading right? So I guess you know the answer. I will work to recreate that in which I have lost and hopefully, I can make it better than before… even with my limitations.

Well, folks, I hope you will help me rebuild our community by sharing this post below and spreading the word.

Until next time.