If I only had a boat, a hoe, some fire wood

When I was fairly little, our family and almost all our friends loved to fish, and one of the lakes we fished quite a bit was Lake McConaughy in Nebraska. It is a huge lake -- right at four miles wide at the face of the dam. It stretches almost 22 miles long and has a surface area of almost 56 square miles. If you stand on the dam and look straight west, you can't see the end of the lake.

None of us had boats, so we would throw our bait out into the lake and wait for a bite. We used pole holders and sometimes put bells on the poles to alert us when a fish was biting. And, as we waited for a fish to bite, invariably, a boat would troll by. I don't think there was ever a time a boat came by that I didn't think, "If I only had a boat." If I had a boat, I'd catch more and bigger fish. If I had a boat, I'd fish off the face of the dam where I knew the bigger walleyes were.

"If I only had a whatever."

This same thought has surfaced many times since then, but not just on boats. If I had a "whatever," I could do something special. If I had an iPhone, I could take pictures and stuff like everyone else seems to. If I were rich, I would be free from worry and stress.

I was watching a video of some blacksmiths in a Third World country making hoes. Their forge consisted of a kind of earthen oven. They were using charcoal, which they had made, to heat the metal. The air for the forge was supplied by a guy pumping a makeshift bellows by hand. Their anvil consisted of rocks or stumps. Their hammers looked all right, but not one I'd have used. And they were steadily producing hoes.

I'd have still been using the excuse: "If I only had a metal forge, some coal, a bellows, an anvil and a Hofi hammer, I could make hoes."

My producing the hoes would depend on the equipment or items I thought I needed. The furthest thing from my mind would have been: "Well, I can make charcoal, I can mix some mud and make a clay forge, I can probably find a smooth stone that will work for an anvil, etc."

Many today are failing to do what they can because they are waiting for what they think they need. When the first pioneers and settlers moved into the Sandhills in Nebraska, there weren't any trees for firewood. The winters were really harsh, so they had to have fuel to stay warm.

What did they use as fuel for their stoves? "Cow chips." When a buffalo or a cow would do No. 2, it would make a pile of dung, or a cow chip. When this cow chip was dry, it would burn. This was the fuel that kept most settlers in the Sandhills of Nebraska from freezing.

Every fall, the settlers would gather cow chips they would use all winter to heat their homes and cook their food. They would have frozen if their attitude had been: "If I only had firewood."

Many today seem like their thoughts are, "If I only lived in America!" If I only had a job like that! If I only had a house like that! If I only had a greenhouse! If I only had kids that minded! If I only had "whatever"!

One of my goals for many years has been to make the most of what we have and not envy what we don't have. Am I always successful? Not even close. But I can honestly say I'm closer than I used to be.

Instead of thinking, "If I only had whatever," focus on thinking, "What do I have that I can make the most of?"

Until next time.