Less is more can feel like a cruel joke if a person has gotten pretty darn comfortable.
Not used to many surprises in life so far. And if they have been rather, okay, I won’t candy coat it, downright spoiled. Duped into believing it will always be this way.
The calm seas, sunny weather, slight breeze the constant daily backdrop in life. Just the way things roll. And naively thinking, believing without having any doubt that it should continue to play out this way, continue.
Happily ever after until… The end.
The curtain drops, the house lights come on. Everyone around you fumbles for keys and leaves. Heads for home.
Small town Maine living is not like that. We don’t live in fear of gloom and doom. It’s just we are closer to real, genuine the way it is. Because we embrace the basics for survival. Never have a full compliment of anything. But adopting the this is as good as she gets. So make the most of it. And move on to being creative. Choosing to be happy, it’s your responsibility not another’s full time job to provide. Digging deeper within to come out the other side of the struggle stronger. Not afraid of getting our hands dirty. Not worried about all the things that could go wrong. That is fear which is a locked door with no key prison. Crippling stinking thinking that is lazy, that is not Maine.
Money, fame and fortune are not the addiction, tradition in Maine.
Experiences, education in the day to day create the real wealth. Life becomes better, improves only with hard work, positive thinking, and not getting into a comfortable rut. You have to just be thankful for everyone you love, everything you know and own around you. And that is more than plenty. With a cup runneth over approach to living in a small Maine town.
WARNING: Not so happy campers, there are not all little red hen types in the audience.
And blood boiling, ear steaming and stand back poison, venom will flow. This approach to living life is so foreign to anyone that gives up as the stormy weather of lightning, thunder, gale force winds approach. To see what you are made up. For a full turn your head and couch thorough physical. To see what ails you.
Sourpusses don’t operate on faith, goodness, right thinking and hard work discipline, moderation. They will rain on your parade if you let them. But there are puddles on any path. Be pleasant, say a prayer for them, but don’t let them steal your joy. Or take their you’re only wearing rose color glasses rhetoric too seriously.
Eeyore’s were not raised in Maine.
Lack that spirit that clearly is make more from less. Embracing, digging in, making a game of surviving. Good comes out of a tough set of challenging circumstances. Having fun maneuvering them is because we are all never alone, all in this together. And no one gets out alive. So it’s do until you die. Have a purpose, find something to channel your talents to help others. All the time. Like a judge, you are appointed for life. Responsible, willing, just knowing this is what your task is, where you are needed. You are the puzzle piece that fits…(snapping sound) right here.
Inspirational quotes, scripture for the task, duty, chore at hand is built into each and every Mainer.
Parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles along with the teachers, pastors, coaches, farmers, small business owner employers and everyone else rubbing shoulders in a small Maine town. Some kind of connected. All rowing the boat together for a common goal. The greater good. There are never enough people for a full bench in each baseball dug out, hockey box, gym bench. To have too many options of who to play. Limited becomes the foundation. The bed rock that is a given. That causes you to get more out of less. But good comes out of the experience. Less cooks in the kitchen helps efficiency and limit the debates too when there is an important task at hand.
More skin in the game. When it is less people for more work needing to be done.
They push themselves to do more. Because when their head cranks around, everyone else is hustling. Not whining, not working just hard enough to avoid replacement.
Passionate, driven, excited, or determined to be relieved to just be done. Glad it’s over for another year. Like picking rocks in a spring Maine farm field.
Something bigger, deeper, more internal fuels the drive.
The way you do the job, the opinion from others working just as hard have of you is important too. It is nice to be appreciated. But that is not the slow drip of lighter fluid that maintains the RPM’s to get the job done. The reward is in the way you pitch in, perform the task at hand. We all scream jackpot, think we we did win because we are lucky enough to just live in Maine.
Not seeking or needing praise, but basking in the little that comes your way just the same.
You knowing you did an admirable job or not. Believing in yourself comes from hard work. The changes in you that life puts your through. Always think of the blacksmith with the roaring forge. Sparks flying as the sharp biting sound of a hammer strikes, shapes, reforms the red hot steel. That is my image of what living in Maine does to a person over time.
You don’t want to disappoint. Just like the respect for your parents and anyone in authority that you accept as just trying to help you. Knowing they love you, guide you, care about you. And have expectations for you to fulfill. There is a trust, not a resistance or adopting an attitude of “don’t tell me what to do”. It is the right thing to do and what quickly happens when never the luxury of pinch hitters, no substitutes. You are up. Always playing. There would be no game without you.
You are all there is baby in an sparsely underpopulated small Maine town. And that is okay. Sets just fine because you raise your hand. Gladly sign up for what needs to be done in a small Maine down. Where if you don’t, no one else will because others already have their hands full. So you gladly do your part to make the small rural Maine town what it is. Special, home grown, unique and fiercely proud, loyal. Less is more, way more living in a Maine small town.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com