Deliberately
Kerry and I have always wished to live deliberately. It isn't always easy to accomplish as life has a way of over-reaching our cautious plans. I love all the synonyms for deliberate: intentional, purposely, knowingly, wittingly, consciously, by design. These terms express the quality of being in charge and I feel the most secure when I am in charge! While the full meaning of the term deliberate includes the aspect of being cautious and going slowly, being steady and setting a pace, it certainly does mean moving forward. While none of us likes to make mistakes, sometimes one just has to take the chance that mistakes or failure will happen in order to move forward and make progress.
Antonyms for the word deliberate include unintentional, accidental, inadvertent, by chance, unstudied and hasty. These terms make me uneasy, but I recognize that there are other antonyms of deliberate that I need to apply to my life. These include improvise, impromptu, unrehearsed, and extemporaneous. These are more positive terms and imply creative thinking and adaptation, traits that are absolutely necessary to self-reliance and happiness.
Hyer Wools has existed in a cautious state for many years now and we have learned a tremendous amount about shepherding and keeping and using wool (or not.) We've made some unintentional mistakes and our circumstances often require us to improvise. But we have made steady, if slow progress. It is time to deliberately move forward with further plans and goals with the sheep and their lovely fleece.
I realize that I am likely speaking to an empty room right now. Early posts in a new blog are a lonely business and so some posts will be reflective and philosophical. Henry David Thoreau wished to be alone in the woods and to explore answers to his questions through solitude. I will state that I look forward to finding a community of friends! We have created this website and blog, a Facebook page and an account on Instagram. I do hope you will make our acquaintance.
