Snow Farms Holistic Wellness

“We need to understand when and why we hustle for worthiness rather than claim it; and we have to understand the things that get in the way. If we want to engage with the world from a sense of worthiness, we have to talk about things that get in the way – especially shame, fear, and vulnerability.”

-Brene Brown-

Something happened on our family farm this morning that brought back to the forefront one of my weaknesses: raising Kune Kune pigs in Oklahoma. There are many things that I am good at: crocheting, reading, and teaching others. There are things that I am not so good at: gardening, starting plants, keeping a clean, organized house, losing a farm animal, and knitting. When I was going about my morning chores of feeding and watering the animals and the garden, I was heading to feed and water our sweet pig, Gandolph. We have had him on the farm since he was a wee little guy and I just love these furry little creatures who have such big personalities!

First of all let’s talk about the many expectations that we put on ourselves:

• What will people think
• Not good enough until I am/get ____________
• No on can find out about ___________
• I am going to pretend everything is okay
• I can change to fit in
• Who do you think you are
• Taking care of them is more important than taking care of myself

Talents and skills are what you do while strengths are how you do them. Working with strengths is more successful than working on weaknesses. This is a lesson that I have learned on the farm and in my regular everyday life in more ways than one! 

My strength is hard work and my stubbornness. I try and try again until I get things right or I am satisfied with them. Every day after I get up, my first task is to feed and water the animals- from the chickens to the goats and everyone in between. I must do this rain or shine, hot summer weather or icy freezing winter weather. If I don’t do these things, the animals won’t make it. Sometimes though, things happen that knock us off our groove and make us question our skill set. Which brings us back to Gandolph, as I approached his pen, I noticed that there was no movement or grunting sounds . . .when I leaned over to get a visual check, he was no longer with us. This is one of my weaknesses- taking the loss of a farm animal personally. I know that I do whatever I can to the best of my ability in regards to our critters. It is hard because it feels like all of the hard work was for not.

Now I’d like you to think of a time where you thought something was impossible, but you eventually succeeded. 

As an avid crocheter, I believed that an impossible task was learning how to knit. I read books, how to articles, and watched countless hours of YouTube videos. Even though I purchased all the things – yarn, needles, patterns – I still couldn’t get the hang of it . . . until a couple of Octobers ago!

Now you may be asking yourself these questions: What did you do to accomplish your success? What techniques did you use? What resources did you use? What support did you have? Well, thanks for asking . . . because here are your answers! A couple of years ago, Russ, Sam, and I went to the Self Reliance Festival in Tennessee hosted by Amanda and John Willis of Special Operations Equipment. At that festival, besides a tour that inspired our own rabbitry, I took part in a session put on by Mama Sauce about knitting. I was so excited! Mama Sauce handed out a knitting kit and we dove right in. Except . . . I was still on the struggle bus! Until Thecia stepped in and saved the day! She showed me her cast on method and even allowed me to record her performing her awesomeness which is what helped me learn how to knit! My stubbornness and hard work paid off because I was able to take my new skill and create 2 Christmas presents for two of my dear friends.

Sometimes there are times in our lives when hardships creep in and it takes a tweaking of perception in order to make it through! Back to Gandolph, my sweet pig, he has solidified something for us on the farm – we need to raise a heartier pig in Oklahoma. As much as it breaks my heart because I love the Kune Kunes and their sweet personalities they just don’t seem to do well on our farm whether that be in Texas or Oklahoma. Instead, we need to transition to American Guinea hogs or some other type of hearty pig. I do know that with the summer heat that has set in for a couple of months, the passing of Frodo means that I will have one less thing for me to do on the farm.

Now what do these two stories of struggle have to do with Holistic Wellness you ask? Sometimes you just have to have someone show you how to use, and focus on, your strengths in order to solve your health and wellness issues! That someone is me. 

If you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about a struggle that you’ve overcome or a strength that you have used as a “weapon.”

If you are on the struggle bus and are having a hard time, reach out to schedule a free discovery call to see if we would be a good fit!