Planting seeds of hope with love

After spending most of my life with the mindset of "go to work go back home, get a check every other Friday for your work" it is a bit difficult to be without a "job" that you are a slave to.  I get anxious a lot about not having that check every other Friday. Luckily we don't have a lot of monthly bills now, so that helps tremendously. If I had a mortgage to worry about every month, I'd be a nervous wreck!  This whole thing about trying to be more in control of your life and your time is not just about making more money, it is also about rearranging your daily life so you end up needing less money. 

However, I still do get quite anxious about not having that nice, consistent check coming in every other week.  When I first quit my good paying job to go back to full time school in 2011, any time I wasn't working on my school work or doing something else that I needed to do, I was browsing all of the job sites searching for jobs I would be able to apply for.  That sort of comforted me I guess, to see there were jobs out there I might have a chance at getting if I applied.  However, that also took a lot of time, I was spending ALL my time doing that when I wasn't doing other needed things.  So, all the time I had spent at work before, I now spent LOOKING for work, even though I didn't want a job at the moment. 

Now, after a time, I have sort of gotten over that obsession.  When I begin to get anxious about not having a check, or not having a "real" job that I have to go to every day and do like a good little employee, I remind myself that every day when I do something relating to 1st Rate Pet Services, such as posting an advertisement or visiting a farmer's market and handing out cards, I am planting seeds.  When I am on Facebook and I "like" a page or make a comment, I am planting more seeds.  Whenever I write an article for Helium or send one in to a magazine, I am planting seeds, and also fertilizing my writing by doing more of it.   When I am at the grocery store and I mention to the check out lady that I am starting a new business, and she asks what kind of business, I throw another seed out.  

This dream of being self employed and being able to make a living doing what you love is not an overnight one.  I am learning that it takes time, effort and persistence.  Belief in what you are doing is key to making it work.  Passion is mandatory, patience is required.  It is vital that you change your previous perceptions of what "working" means by learning to incorporate your work (planting seeds), into your daily life and remembering to water and fertilize on a regular basis.   If you love what you are doing and are experiencing every day with joy and satisfaction, you are doing a great job.