Living Like Little Town on the Prairie: Battles and Thankfulness

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“The prairie looks so beautiful and gentle,” she said. “But I wonder what it will do next. Seems like we have to fight it all the time.” “This earthly life is a battle,” said Ma. “If it isn’t one thing to contend with it’s another. It always has been so, and it always will be. The sooner you make up your mind to that, the better off you are, and the more thankful for your pleasures.” ~ Little Town on the Prairie p. 89-90

I came across this paragraph in Little Town on the Prairie today and it’s just on of those things that make you stop and think. In this part of the book Laura was referring to a new crop of Spanish Grass that had come up and felt like needles and it could seriously hurt their animals so it had to be taken care of.

Do you ever have one of those days were you just stop and wonder why everything seems to be going wrong, nothing feels like it’s working out for you and you are just down and out. Yesterday was one of those days for us, with each new thing that came up I got excited about a new possibility but the day ended with not a single one of our plans working out. You keep on wondering when life is going to get better and when it will start working out for you.

If you’ve read my About Me page you know that life wasn’t easy for me and the hubby after we got married. We had almost no money, no running bathroom, very little heat; it was not a good situation. We could have been very down about the whole thing and I’m not saying that we stayed positive the whole time, but I know instead of focusing on those things that brought us down we focused on what was good in life.

For example, one of the jobs we took to get by was delivering newspapers. That job was seriously awful. Waking up at 4:30am to bind and deliver papers in our neighborhood. No days off, ever. No snow days even if it was blizzarding. But there was a couple times when one of our clients would give us a tip. I’m not talking big bucks here, it was just a few dollars. We’d used that little extra money to go grab a $5 pizza and celebrate working hard.

At some point we will just have to realize that life just isn’t fair. Like Ma said, once we figure that out, life will be better for us. For me it’s all about looking at my situation in a different light. Instead of being upset that I have a crack in my bathroom ceiling, peeling paint, and a bathtub that doesn’t drain, I’m thankful that I’ve worked hard over the last couple months so we can fix those things.

Try it! Think of a not-so-great situation that you are currently in and find the positive in it. Then just focus on that part. Especially as we move into the holiday season it’s more important than ever to be able to just be thankful for the little we have. Otherwise we run the risk of just feeling miserable.

Here’s a great related post that I wrote last year at this time: Being Thankful for the Little We Have.

So tell us now, what are you thankful for?

Make sure you check out the entire Living Like Little House series!

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11 Comments

  1. I’m thankful for my life, my family and my dear friends. I’m thankful for our freedoms and for the men and women in our military who protect them.And yes, it helps…better to pay attention what we are thankful FOR, rather than keep wishing for what we don’t have.

  2. I’m thankful for my life, my family and my dear friends. I’m thankful for our freedoms and for the men and women in our military who protect them.And yes, it helps…better to pay attention what we are thankful FOR, rather than keep wishing for what we don’t have.

  3. “Life is not fair – deal with it.” – My kids were raised that way and it has saved them a lot of heartache, and a lot of knowing that if they want something they need to work for it and figure out how to make it happen themselves……

  4. “Life is not fair – deal with it.” – My kids were raised that way and it has saved them a lot of heartache, and a lot of knowing that if they want something they need to work for it and figure out how to make it happen themselves……

  5. I try to look for the positives in everything – and be thankful/grateful for them…. Like this morning in the pouring rain getting into the truck for work… Thankful that I didn’ have to scrape ICE off the windshield in the cold wind as I had the previous days this week 🙂 It’s the little things !

  6. I try to look for the positives in everything – and be thankful/grateful for them…. Like this morning in the pouring rain getting into the truck for work… Thankful that I didn’ have to scrape ICE off the windshield in the cold wind as I had the previous days this week 🙂 It’s the little things !

  7. Wow! It’s been one of them weeks for our family also. First my husbands breaks on his suv needed to be fixed. Three days later his trans is messed up we don’t know how much this is going to cost us. It’s the beginning of the month and we live on a pension. Money is going to be tight this month. But we have food in the freezer I have a roof over my head and we have another car until the suv gets fixed. So it’s a good day!

  8. Wow! It’s been one of them weeks for our family also. First my husbands breaks on his suv needed to be fixed. Three days later his trans is messed up we don’t know how much this is going to cost us. It’s the beginning of the month and we live on a pension. Money is going to be tight this month. But we have food in the freezer I have a roof over my head and we have another car until the suv gets fixed. So it’s a good day!

  9. I wholeheartedly agree. We tell our kids life isn’t fair either. There are a few scripture verses we live by on this subject and tell our kids to remember. One is John 16:11 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world. I remember where I get my strength and that helps us in very hard times, too. Blessings and peace to you today!

  10. I wholeheartedly agree. We tell our kids life isn’t fair either. There are a few scripture verses we live by on this subject and tell our kids to remember. One is John 16:11 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world. I remember where I get my strength and that helps us in very hard times, too. Blessings and peace to you today!

  11. I want to thank you for this reality of life , I too , struggle every now and then , I feel sometimes that life is picking on me , but , its not , this is life and we deal with it . It makes us human . ? by the way , I really enjoy your site. I live in Canada and really want your book .