Preparing for an uncertain future means attending to three things. One is our health, a second is our education, and a third our finances. In each area we must prepare the foundation, the footing on which to build. If we neglect this important step in any of the three areas, the entire structure will eventually crash down around us. The secret to success lies in knowing when to turn.
Knowing when to turn. What does that mean? It starts with soil building. Soil building means laying the foundation for the future by carefully examining the past and present. We learn from the patterns that emerge from studying the lives of others, primarily our family members, as it is with them that we share genetic traits. Not all genetics are to be emulated, and we need to know the personal characteristics and behaviors that are helpful and those that are not.
The other part of that is knowing how to deal with people, again often family members, who have a different perspective or opinion than ours. Knowing when to take a different approach or turn in a different direction so that others can get a glimpse of an alternative path can be difficult. Social soil building is hard.
Perhaps organic soil building is the easiest to understand. At Bent Pine Farm we are focused on building rich fertile fields in which to grow both our food and feed for our livestock.
“Going Green” is trendy. In the past, this part of Florida was underwater. The tiny bits of shell and very sandy soil are evidence of that. Puddles form quickly in afternoon downpours and disappear just as quickly into the well-drained soil. But pure sand won’t support a self-sufficient lifestyle, and so we have begun the painstaking process of rebuilding the soil.
This is the organic, physical soil-building that we find in nature. It is obviously important for our physical health. What is less obvious is the importance of physical well-being to emotional health, our life-long learning processes, and our finances. Often friends and family do not understand that it is hard to be physically healthy if you are not emotionally and economically healthy, and visa versa. They may not want to make the turn.
u.m. schin
