Oh, Great! I Discovered How to Cultivate a Farmer in 52 Easy Steps (Unorthodox Farming, #2)

by Benjamin Kerei

The curse of longevity is to see successes become failures. It’s to witness children pursue their art, gain accolades among their peers, and find themselves in an early grave from drug abuse. It’s to help a young man who shows promise and energy in business, watch him succeed…and turn into a tyrant.

The blessing and the anguish of longevity is hindsight. Hindsight can show our flaws and the mistakes we let ourselves repeat. It can be our greatest teacher and our loudest critic. It can also change how we view our experiences. That is one of the most important aspects of hindsight.

“Not at all, Arnold. Helping your friends is what brings value to your life. It is what makes you happy. It is not something you should run from or ignore.

I sighed, understanding what he was saying. “Classes won’t make me happy. They don’t hold the answer to the question I’m still asking myself, which is where I should go from here.”

“Arnold, most successful merchants owe ten coppers for every one they own. If you had to rely on your own wealth to achieve anything of significance, everyone would fail before they could even try. It’s only together we can achieve great accomplishments.”

The exercise involved pretending to be two people: a merciless interviewer, and a brutally honest and courageous version of yourself. The interviewer started off by asking you a simple question, such as, “Why don’t you feel like you deserve to spend money on yourself?”

And then the more honest and courageous version of you would answer truthfully, in a way that made you feel vulnerable. A way that made you feel uncomfortable with its honesty. That was the hard part. The truth wasn’t meant to make you feel good. If it did, you were doing it wrong.

“You claim to know me better than I know myself. Why can’t you just tell me what I should devote my life to?” “Because I experienced who you were, Arnold, not who you will become.” “And that matters?” “Far more than you comprehend. You seem to think life is static, on a set path, but a person’s life can deviate a hundred different ways. Unexpected events push us in new directions, forcing us to react, shaping us into who we will become.

“Then let me finish pointing out the obvious path forward for you. Imagine you have a hypothetical goal. Imagine it is something significant. Imagine that it helps people and makes their lives better. Imagine it is as difficult as Ranic said it should be. I’m not being rhetorical—actually do this, Arnold.” I tried to do as he said. “This is kind of hard, without being specific.” “If you had specifics, there would be no need for your imagination. Now imagine.” That was a fair point. “I’m imagining.” “Good. Now, this goal you have. It’s hard to achieve, correct?” “I’m imagining that it’s incredibly hard to achieve.” Salem ignored my sarcasm. “Good. Now, with everything you know about this goal, can you tell me what you’re capable of working on right now that will get you closer to successfully achieving it?”

This was stupid. I didn’t know anything about the imaginary goal. It was imaginary. How did Salem expect me to answer him? All I knew was that the goal was important, something I valued. I mean, I knew I wanted it. I knew it would help people. I knew it would be difficult. That it was something that might take a lifetime, and it would test me to my limits. I mean, I knew I wasn’t in the right headspace, and that I wasn’t happy. If I wanted to challenge something so difficult, I needed to be tough enough to follow through. The only reason I could manage all my current responsibilities was because of my charisma. If I didn’t have it, the pressure would have already crushed me. Ah, shit. I knew what I had to work on. “I have to work on me,” I said.