The Daunting Future

Normally an afternoon in the tractor is spent drivin' around in circles with country music blaring through the speakers while I sing along. Today was different... I kept the radio turned off while my mind drifted off onto a rather daunting topic, the future.

When I was 18 years old I had figured that all of my dreams and ambitions would magically fall into place without much effort. I honestly thought that I would start school and quickly get a degree, find a girl, get married, get a job, and have kids. I assumed that because I wanted it that I would wake up at 25 years old with a great job, a beautiful family and that I would be a happy man.

But obviously, beings as I was sitting in the tractor with the music off and daydreaming about my future, I have come to the conclusion that my life has not panned out as easily as I had dreamed of. So beings as I know now that life doesn't go 'as planned', today I took a look at the future with less of a 'rose colored glasses' approach. I decided today to really look at my life and decide what I wanted for my future and what I needed to do to get it. But first, I had to look at where I was today.

Today -

As of today, I am a college graduate with a degree in Agricultural Technology Management. I have a full time job working for a feedyard in Iowa. I rent a house in a small town of 432 people. I have no wife (or real prospects) and/or kids. I have a pickup and a truck payment to go along with it. Not exactly something to be a hundred percent thrilled about at the age of 27.

Now that I know of my current position, the next step is figuring out what I want and where I want to be... The trick to this next step is to be reasonable.... obviously I can't start wanting to wake up tomorrow with a million dollars in my bank account, a beautiful bride laying next to me and a big house in the middle of the rockies... Like I established before, life ain't easy! So....

What I want for my future as of June 3rd, 2009:

a) Firstly and most importantly, I want to find that one girl that I will fall in love with. A girl that I find beautiful not only on the outside, but on the inside as well. A girl that will be my best friend, and someone that I can grow old with.

b) I want to have some kids... (kids that the wife can wake up to comfort in the middle of the night while I continue to dream about how great of a life I have!) hehe

c) I want a career, not a job. Now this is where I am hung up, cause it's time that I find something that I am passionate about. I do know that I love the country, I love cattle and horses, I love business. Now with those guidelines it would be obvious to an outsider that I should start my own cattle operation. I would agree; the hang up on that thought is that I don't have the money to follow through on that dream. But that would be my immediate dream. Another avenue would be to get a job working for someone who already has those things, but making more money than I do.

d) A house out in the country... now it would be fantastic to have a place out in the mountains with a stream full of fish, a couple thousand acres of beautiful pasture ground to graze cattle and horses, and no neighbors in site. But, conventional wisdom would show that it would be more likely to find a place in the midwest. On that note, my dream is to have a big white house, with a few hundred acres of pasture ground, a farm pond (still with plenty of fish), and neighbors a few miles down the gravel road.

e) Out of debt... this is self explanatory!

Now the next step is figuring on how to accomplish these rather hefty goals... Work ethic is the primary way and determination ain't far behind. But I will itemize each -

Achieving the goals-

a) The wife - Now this has proven to be a touch more tricky than I would have thought. I honestly thought that one day some beautiful girl would walk up to me and say 'Hey, my name is (fill in the blank), wanna get hitched?' (Okay maybe not that simple... but close) Since that hasn't happened I have been forced to look at the situation from a different light. Obviously a girl doesn't just walk in to your life with the sole purpose of falling in love with you. Obviously not all girls are the perfect girls. Obviously, some girls are a just plum crazy... (Honestly... it's true) With this observation, I have to figure out how to get her. This is what I have decided. I have to get off my duff and make myself a bit social. When I mean social, that doesn't mean stopping in at a local bar and expect to find the girl of my dreams. It means coffee shops, libraries, restaurants, livestock auctions, feedstores, etc. I can't go to work, (where I am the only employee, and thus that choice of gals ain't exactly high in quantity), and go home where i sit in front of a television or computer. I have to get up and move. Find a girl that looks suitable and talk to her... DON'T WAIT FOR HER TO TALK TO ME! Show wont! Then see where it goes!

b) Kids - Find wife and then say... lets make some kids! This I look forward to!

c) Career - Talk to my boss about the fact that I don't make enough to support my future goals.
If he doesn't decide to give me a pretty good sized raise then it's time to start updating my resume and looking for jobs. I have and continued to think about going back to school. This certainly ain't out of the question, but what ever I do I need to start moving towards that goal. A job and money just won't fall in my lap if I wish for it hard enough. It also won't be gift wrapped under a Christmas tree if I ask Santa Clause really nice (Ive tried... he didn't deliver... and I was on the good list!)

d) The House - Now my ultimate wish is to find the wife who just happens to be the only daughter of some big time rancher. He is gonna leave it all to her and the best part is..... he has a bad cough! We'll see if that works out!

e) The debt - Make the money and give it back to them! :) Just gotta get the money first!

Whew! Ive got it planned, now I just gotta start moving! No more wasting away my life hoping to wake up to my dreams. Nothing comes easy, but if you work hard enough it can happen!

Well I suppose I can start workin' on all of this... but I'll probably start tomorrow, time for sleep first! In any case - dream big! (Just not to big) Then start putting the work in to get them!