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I was recently talking with the wife of a Georgia grower, about the stresses her husband is under and how he won’t take time to go to the doctor or take care of himself. In frustration she said “I just wish he would take care of himself as well as he takes care of his truck!”
That comment really hit home. How many of us take care of everything else first, before we take care of ourselves? If it’s true that You are the most important asset of your farm, then shouldn’t growers be taking care of themselves at least as well as they take care of other, “valuable,” assets, like a truck, tractor, and other equipment?
A recent article by Bryan Robinson asked some really thought-provoking questions about this. In it, he wrote “Many of us take better care of our cars than we do ourselves… If you were a car with a flat tire, you would slow down, pull over on the roadside and fix the tire. What’s stopping you from fixing what’s out of whack with yourself? After all, your car can be replaced; you cannot.” You cannot be replaced.
So, what are the basics for maintaining a car or a truck, and what are the parallel things for maintaining ourselves? Well, trucks need good gas, clean oil, and clean air—just like we need good food and fresh air. You need to check all a truck’s fluids—just like we need to make sure we’re drinking enough water. You need to rotate a truck’s tires to there isn’t uneven wear—just like you need to shift and to rotate from work, to family, to friends, to quiet time so you don’t wear out. Finally, a truck needs a tune-up and inspection—just like we need to go to the doctor annually for a checkup.
Lots of us love our trucks—Glen Campbell even had a great song about it. Can we love ourselves as much as we love our trucks, and take care of ourselves just as well? Truly, you are the most important asset to your farm, so take care of your truck, take care of yourself, and thrive.
