Being content

[Taylortractornut]

I had a conversation with my older brother  Saturday the lead to me   getting off th e phone a bit quickly.     I called my brother about a trade I m considering making.     He made the Reply  I d trade and that that old truck out of the driveway so you can use it.        It was in asmug way.      My brother and I are  close but  completely opposite  at the same time.    Everything in his shop, house and yard is perfect.    Mine all looks like Sanford and Sons.   
 I like old stuff old  junk  tractors  and trucks and hed  rather scrap them.       Its funny he complains about them but when he needs something  Im his first stop.   

 
He seems  like is a bit insecure around folks, always  tried to get me to be more like him.     He goes through alot of stages for whats popular.    Got tatooed  then complained that I didnt want to mark my self up like that, then the Harley stage , Hes had several and likes them and  tries to get me to buy one everytime he gets one but Im not interested on them.    Id rather  rife my old tractor or pound iron.      I like Harleys  just not my thing.     He hangs out with the same type of folks as himself that gets aggravating  sometimes when they come over and want work done.    I dont  hesitate on the price  they act like I should cut them a big break. 


I was just thinking about this today,    Ive heard my brother  griping about being  content with my self and style.    Have any of yall ever been  questioned about being content with what you like to do or such.       One of my brothers friends  was over this morning.    I had a friend bring   over part of a large cherry tree.      I made a jerry rigged  saw holder on a truck frame drill stand.   I made a nice slabbed off  section for a friends  table project.  My friend and I were admiring the  slab and  my brothers friend  just couldnt  see it. 
   

Has anyone else here had folks  question your  style  or  tried to get you to be  in the "in Crowd"?

[Bandmill Bandit]

Artists are never followers and followers are never artists. Never met follower that thought HE was following. Thats because most of them are so far behind they think they are actually in front.  

[fuzzybear]

That's why I live in a Territory with only 35k people. I don't have to deal with the "In" crowd. People like us, that don't conform to their ways are "uncivilized". But our traditional way of life is so simple that they could NEVER understand it. Unless it came from IKEA  or some big box store,or have a fancy name plate, it must be garbage.  I'm proud to be a bushman, hillbilly,redneck, or what ever else they want to call me.  At the end of the day we are far more civilized than them. All of us would be the first in line to help our neighbors in times of need....even if were not partial to them. It's what makes us human beings and them robots.
 People in the modern age have migrated to large cities and have lost touch with the land and all it's wonder. Water comes from the tap, food from the store and heat from the switch on the wall. They have lost all survival skills. If you ask a civilized person to eat a dandy lion salad. they will respond that dandy lions are weeds. They have no clue that it's a very healthy food source.
  Ours is a simple way of life that keeps us as happy as kings and queens. Try as they might, they will never rid the world of us backwards individuals.  Never let their glaring stare over a little grease or dirt on your cloths, or your taste is things, get to you. You are a real working man/woman. And that is something to be *DanG proud of.
FB

[paul case]

Redneck? What do ya mean?

I am personally glad there are folks who buy new fancy pickup trucks to drive around and haul nothing. If it weren't for him there wouldn't be any good used ones for me to buy. PC

[Brucer]

Has anyone else here had folks  question your  style  or  tried to get you to be  in the "in Crowd"?

Yep. I ignore them. If they get too obnoxious I very politely make them feel uncomfortable for pressuring me .

[Kansas]

I never did the in crowd very well. In high school, started to listening to country music, and wearing a cowboy hat when it wasn't cool. Then "Urban cowboy" came out, and I got rid of the hat. Then I was wearing farmers caps, and everyone started wearing them. So I gave up on hats altogether.

I have one collared short sleeve shirt. I might wear it once every 2 or three months. Girlfriend saw me in it the first time after two months of dating and remarked how nice it looked, compared to the black pocketed t shirts I have worn all summer. Told her she probably ought not to get used to it. Don't have any dress slacks, but I have put on one of my better pairs of jeans when going to a fancy meeting. I have discovered if you act confident, and I don't know for sure what word I am searching for here... maybe an "aura" around you, you can show up in a dirty pickup, dressed like crap, and mingle with anyone. One of the joys of my life is walking into a meeting with a banker or some committee with sawdust all over my jeans.

[SwampDonkey]

I'm quite content with my situation, do what, when and where I want. Don't have to listen to someone running their mouth.

[T Welsh]

My middle brother is like that, has to have the latest and greatest of every thing. and yes he comes to little brother when he needs something. I have never been caught up in the (for the look of it crowd) I am myself. I love to fix things,make things and do for myself. as for being content,you bet ya!!!! Tim

[thecfarm]

I have 2 stepsons like that. One is from DC and one lives right next to a city about 40 minutes from us. The one  from DC says we need to get out more. We get out as often as we need.     The one that lives close to the city says we live to far out. But guess where he baits bear and goes hunting? Guess it's just the way some are. I always tell him and others,it's not further enough away for me. I'm outside most of the time and only a few people will come and found me. Now I carry a cell phone on me and the wife calls me when we have company. Some don't want to be bothered with us country folk. 

[zopi]

I never have been "cool," and don't care.
Lady I was working for was watxhing me work amd we were talking about farming and animals, and making things from scratch...this was after I had bulldogged her 180 lb breeding ram and chucked him back in his pen...she said, "you have become a pioneer, haven't you?"
Best compliment I have had in years...

[metalspinner]

I'm the coolest guy I know.  Everyone wants to be just like me.

My sisters and friends used to tease me that I was "old" - even when I was 20.  I didn't care to "go out," drink like an idiot, or do the stoopid stuff lots of young people find entertaining. Now that I turned 40, I realize that I've been 40 for about 25 years. .

Being content has different meanings to different folks. Some think it negative as if you don't want to advance at what you do or get ahead.  I think it more of a matter of being confident with who you are and not worrying about what others think of you.

[zopi]

I used to hang out amd listen to the old guys...my grandpa's cronies...I learned alot that most kids never had a chance...was taught to rope calves by the father of a horse racing hall of famer...can drill a well, weld (sort of) can operate a forge, build a house...know waaayy too much about world war two aircraft...I miss those old guys...but at least I carry some of them. I guess I have always been a bit old too.
Herds are for sheep...and following a sheep, is not the prettiest view...

[chain]

Count you blesssings TTN, you are a proud Individualist! America was built on the spirit of you fellows, no wimps. You're in with Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, the Mountain Men, and on and on, and yep, Davy Crockett.

[Raider Bill]

I'm thinking like Paul C. here. I bought my first Harley in the early mid 70's only because I needed transportation and it was cheap. It certainly wasn't the cool thing to ride, [well it did get dang cold in CNY sometimes] I took a bunch of crap from people in the 70's, 80's and most of the 90's about it but then it became a fad. The same type that turned their noses up at Bikers now are the weekend warriors all leathered up.

I guess my point is the market was flooded by overnight Bikers which insured there would be cheap bikes and parts for years plus, they saved HD from going bankrupt so I can still buy parts and continue to ride.

[Coon]

Content,  Yes I am. A redneck, a hillbilly, a bush monkey Yes I am.  I am proud to be all of these.  While in high school I never partied with all the "Jones' " so to speak, as I would rather be out working or doing something by myself or with someone older than myself.  I myself, have learned many things from the older and much wiser folks I cut my teeth around.  I too have been called "old".  Just the other day one of my former classmates said to me that I looked alot older than I am..... I said really..... that's probably because I am two days older than dirt and when they said let there be light I was there to throw the switch.     I am who I am and that's the way it's gonna be.  If someone don't like the way I look or dress well then they don't have to look at me.  I get dirty looks when I go down to the store when I got my dirty everyday clothes on and people turn up their noses and walk away.... I just chuckle to myself and say good I don't wanna smell a perfume factory anyhow.     I think some of them bathe in it because they feel they get super powers or sumpthin'      

[fuzzybear]

Just the other day one of my former classmates said to me that I looked alot older than I am..... I said really..... that's probably because I am two days older than dirt and when they said let there be light I was there to throw the switch.    

  I had a friend that was in his early100's say some thing along those lines. Only his went like this.    "I stood around in the dark for a long time until the voice of God said let there be light. That was my signal to start making and spreading the dirt around,....So I am older than dirt"
  Here in north we have no time for "keeping up with the Jones". We have about 2000 fulltime people living here over a 100km radius. The nearest Wall-Mart/box store is 500km away. The people here either work for the guberment or live a traditional life style. We are like any other community. We do not always get along but we do take care of each other when it comes down to it.
  We had a young lady move here and work as a cashier at the grocery store, she commented to me and my wife one time that Dawson City is the only place she has ever seen people who were short in cash at the check out line have the ballance paid by the person standing behind them with no questions asked. She also said she thought it was funny that when people reach into their pockets  for change and bring up a hand full of change and bullets, and no one even blinks an eye.
  I had an old Native lady tell me once that society was like a fine tappestry, it is woven tight at the core with interesting colors and patterns, and at the edges you have all these fine loose threads floating around....those threads are us that live out of the core and on the edge. If you pull on us threads at the edge too hard you will unravel the whole thing.
  Contentment is what make YOU happy. If you are content with your life and you live like a King or Queen in your own little slice of paradise...then you are a human being. Those that have lost their way love to pick on us that are different....I think it makes them feel better to trash us and belittle us, but at the end of the day they are nothing more than sour, unhappy people. While we go to bed with our family happy and content.
FB
 

[Autocar]

Iam about as country as you can get, and I am content !

[mooleycow]

i was born in 1955, I was raised in 1948.  People look at me like a mule looking at a new gate.  Small town less than 300.  Change my oil and work on my vehicles.  Don't call aaa when the truck has a dead battery.  Neighbor looked at the wife something strange when she changed the headlite in the car.  We catfish in the swamps, nobody to bother us.  aboutright is a bootleggers term.  any better you wouldn't have give it to me, any worse i couldn't a drunk it.

[pigman]

Contentment is not having more, it is being satisfied with what you have.

[Cedarman]

What do you feel when you hear the story of the family that got lost in a corn maze and called 911? 
What did you feel when you hear the story of the family that got lost in an apple orchard and called for help?
Contentment is knowing that you would survive these emergencies and your kids would be leading the way.

It is kind of like the people that died in the back of their pickup truck when it went into the lake.  The rescue divers said it looked like they were trying to get the tail gate down to get out.

Pigman, you nailed it.

Contentment is not having more, it is being satisfied with what you have.

[Bandmill Bandit]

Contentment is not having more, it is being satisfied with what you have.

Almost 100 % right!

Cept if you dont have enough logs to saw to "feed the need to saw" to mitigate the effects of saw dust blood contamination.

[saltydog]

I feel the same way contentment is all that matters. When i met my current wife i was in my 7th year living in my 16x24 cabin i built myself when i was in my 20s.when everyone my age was being popular i was cutting ceader cabin logs. cabin has gas or oil lights wood heat no running water.my biggest expence was a pack of 32 bear/cat/coonhounds.I would be sitting by the campfire cooking supper friends would stop by they would say what you doing i would tell them wathching tv cookin supper.they never could get it.ive never had any sense of smell ive been skunked before and never knew it.come trappin or coon huntin you found out who your real friends are.who knew skinnin critters bothered some people so much?Or goin to town for truck parts with you chore boots on that might smell like cow****.my in laws are well to do he owns a trucking company they sure dont understand me.I work hard and take care of my family and help anyone i can what else is their?maybe thats why i love logging so mutch nobody bothers me.I guess having been raised by my grandparents might have alot to do with it.they were both born in 1916.