Whatever you do make sure you enjoy it!

In everyday life we tend to give importance to affairs which actually don't really matter. We stress about the little things, we get annoyed with our chores and easily disappointed because life doesn't go to plan. We wait for big special events to bring us joy, yet never see the beauty surrounding us. It's more important for us to "be right" and have everything "our way" instead of understanding others and enjoy their company. It's easier for us to find all the reasons why we can't be happy, instead of enjoying what we have. But is it really the best way of living? Isn't life about fulfillment and happiness more than it is about "being right"? I believe our happiness and how content we are with our life depends mostly on our mindset, how we approach everyday life and our surrounding.

This is a story describing a day out of my life on the farm. I have a large water tank which needs to be refilled couple of times in the year. Having a large water tank next to a dam isn't something common on farms (in fact many people will consider it as a waste of time and money), though actually it can be a life-saver, especially in times of drought. In 2019, for example, most farmers in the area (and in many parts of Australia) had to sell their cattle as they didn't have water for them. My farm wasn't exempt from the disaster and all my dams were completely empty, nonetheless I still could keep my pets (well, actually my cattle, but I treat them as if they were my pets) thanks to the magic tank.

Twice a year I need to invest some time to transfer water from my little dam to the water tank (I don't have any roof area near the tank to catch rain water, so… it won't refill itself by magic). George suggested he would help me with the job and… Though working with George can be quite challenging (for both of us), I gratefully accepted his offer to help. George and I have absolutely contradicting ways of working. The best way to describe our relationship would be… imagine a conservative, extremely skeptical, frustrated, risk-averse yet very well organized father, and optimistic, chaotic, spontaneous, cheerful and daring daughter. The only thing we have in common is… a good heart, we both always mean well.

George is perfectionist and he wants to do everything 'the right way', maximize efficiency (in other words, do additional tasks) and everything has to be done using the 'right tools' (which can significantly add to the costs). My way of thinking is more like: "What's the simplest and easiest way to do the job?" and then just do it with the tools I have handy. For example, if I need a hammer and I don't have one, then… Oh well, who cares, small rock (I have plenty of them) will do the job. George finds this absolutely ridiculous - "We don't live in stone times!!! Human race evolved since then!!!" he will yell at me. I can't quite comprehend what my working style has to do with human evolution, at the end the rock did a great job 1000 years ago, and it is still doing now! Anyway, you get the picture how well we work together.

Nonetheless, to avoid any conflicts I tried to adjust to George as well as I only could, at the end he did me a favor as we worked on my farm. If I was going to refill the tank by myself, I would just take the transfer pump (after ensuring it is functioning properly) place it on the tractor together with all the necessary hoses and connectors, go to the dam, maybe clean the water trough and refill the tank. About 2-3 hours job.

This time, however, we went together with George and there were many other jobs which needed to be done. So except of the water pump and the equipment necessary for transfer, we also had mower, sprayer, fencing equipment and more. We used two vehicles - I was on the quad-bike, George took the tractor.

The first job was to feed the cattle and get some stones to repair a platform supporting the water trough on the small paddock.

I was first to arrive at the destination, as driving quad-bike (especially the way I do it), was much faster than driving tractor. Before George arrived I had enough time to set up pipes at the water tank in preparation for the transfer, as well as connect hoses to empty the trough. Nonetheless, even here George had to comment I was cutting corners again, because instead of getting the 'right hose' from the shed and set up everything the 'right way', I simply disconnected the hose from the water container and used that.

Oh well, why should I make the job more difficult, when the easy way works just as good? Do you see any problems with my solution shown on the picture below? The water didn't damage the platform - the platform got a bit wet, but it doesn't matter, it's not made out of sugar, it won't dissolve. It gets more wet in the rain than it got that day.

While waiting for the water to exit the trough, I was setting up everything for the actual water transfer and George was mowing the paddock. Of course having the grass nicely mowed around the tank made the job easier, but… sometimes a bit inconvenience can save a lot of time and effort.

And so, finally everything was perfectly set up, the pump started without any problems and the water was flowing freely into the tank. The next job for me and Daisy was to clean the trough. We had so much fun playing in the water, I was throwing sticks or leaves and Daisy was trying to catch them. And we did excellent job as well - as you can see for yourself.

Unfortunately we got into trouble with George, who absolutely disapproves any fun during work. He believes life isn't about fun and joy, but about responsibilities, about work and doing the job the 'right way' in a serious and solemn manner. Then, after the job is done, we can relax and be content for a moment, thought not too complacent, as… 'something could go wrong'.

I don't get it - why not to be happy about the little things in life and enjoy them? It's much more fun cleaning the trough while playing with the dog, joking and laughing, than 'doing the job the right way' (whatever it means). And what if I die on the job? Then I will miss on the fun-time which I should have at the end. (I was dying twice already, so I know how quickly this can happen - life can be over in a matter of seconds). No, I am definitely not risking leaving the fun to the end - I take the fun now, together with the jobs.

I believe most important in life is to enjoy doing the very average things or chores. For me life is about joy, happiness, fulfillment, it's about finding beauty in the little things and having fun regardless of what life throws at us (and it threw a lot at me) or what we are doing. Why do we need to be dying to start appreciate life and start living? I don't get it… So many people start appreciate the usual everyday things, like walking or working, when they lose their health and/or the ability to do them.

Anyway, I refilled the trough, we packed everything as it was getting late and we went home. Do you think the job was finished? Oh well, it would be, if I did it by myself, but not with George. No, there were more tasks to do. And so the next day we went back to the small paddock and this time George tried to fix a corner of the platform as it was a bit up… Well, have a very very close look at the photo below - I know, it's not perfect shot as it was just a snapshot with my phone, but… you will see that the marked corner is lifted up a bit.

In George's opinion the best solution, and the only way to 'do the job properly', would be to… rebuilt the entire platform… I am not joking… The platform is built using so called 'diamond grid' and… blue metal gravel (I think it's how the little stones are called). George tried to fix just the corner by removing stones from underneath, but as soon as you remove them, new stones will come through the grid and push the entire corner even higher. I said to George, since it was my farm, I really really didn't care if the corner was up or not, and I definitely wasn't rebuilding the entire platform. (And I am sure my cattle doesn't mind the lifted corner either). And so we put some rapid-cement there and… 'should be right, mate'

I did some more mowing as visible on the photos below. I am sure 'loan perfectionists' will be upset with the height of the grass before I mowed it, and I know it looks much better when it is mowed, but… In all honesty, it is middle in nowhere, pass the bush… Nobody, but me and the cows, and occasionally the neighbor's cows will see it, and we don't mind how long the grass is 😉

I saw the mowing as a very good 'stepping exercise', so I had fun doing it.

At the end of the weekend all jobs were done, and we both (George and I) were satisfied with our results. It was a successful weekend! The only suspicious thing was that... I didn't have any trouble refilling the trough... That was really weird.... It never works well the first time, never, there are always problems, so... How come that I refilled the trough without issues and the next day water was still in the trough? I am sure there will be some surprises...

When I think about that weekend, of course I could get annoyed and upset with George, I could argue with him and try to convince him to do the job "my way", I could try to change him and his ways of working (at the end the job turned out to be bigger and took longer, than what I planned for), but what would it bring? Nothing good… Not to mention, who says that my way of working is better than his? The truth is that there are many ways how a job can be done, and we all have our own preferences. Every method of doing something will have it's pros and cons, what suits some won't suit others. The important thing is to agree on how are we going to progress with the job and then go with it. George is as he is, and if I didn't agree with him we would only get angry and frustrated with each other, we wouldn't get much work done, and even if we got something done, for sure not as much as we did. The day would pass in a sombre and angry atmosphere. Therefore I chose to accept George as he is, with his perfectionism and constant criticism, and instead of arguing with him, I concentrated on the job at hand, on my goal and I did the best I could, while still having fun with Daisy and simply enjoying the day. I was also grateful George helped me, and we got more done than I would by myself.

Whatever you do make sure you enjoy it and do the best out of your day. Mostly it is our mindset and our attitude to life and others that decides how our day (and life) will be. Even if the job we need to do isn't something we love doing, we can find the little things we enjoy and have fun (as I had fun playing with Daisy). If we work with others, before we start arguing with them and try to force them to do things "our way" we should think if it is worth it. At the end what really counts is the result of the work done, not who was right who was wrong. And most importantly we need to make the day count, enjoy the day, because it happens only once in our lifetime. Never forget every day could be our last day.