• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Little House Living

  • Start Here
    • DIY
      • Simple Homemade Gifts
      • Easy Crafts
    • Recipes From Scratch
    • Simple Living – How to Live a Simpler Life
    • The Best Frugal Living Tips
    • Homestead Living
      • A South Dakota Prairie Story
  • Make Your Own
  • Recipes
    • Frugal Appetizers and Snacks
    • Breads
    • Breakfasts
    • Canning and Preserving Recipes
    • Frugal Desserts and Treats Recipes
    • Garden Produce Recipes
    • Main Dishes
    • Make Ahead Food and Meals
    • Make Your Own
    • Mixes
  • Frugal Living
  • About
    • Contact
    • Resources for Simple Living
    • Ministries We Support
  • Podcast
  • Shop
You are here: Home / Simple Living / Living Like Little House / Living Like Theses Happy Golden Years: Managing

Living Like Theses Happy Golden Years: Managing

February 16, 2012 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

“There you have it, Laura!” Pa said. “It’s all in that word “manage”. You might not get far with Clarence, even if you were big enough to punish him as he deserves. Brute force can’t do much. Everybody’s born free, you know, like it says in the Declaration of Independence. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink, and good or bad, nobody but Clarence can ever boss Clarence. You better just manage.” – These Happy Golden Years p. 54

In this part of the book Laura was frustrated with her situation. She was unable to take charge of the kids at the school she was teaching and she wasn’t sure how she was going to get by for the rest of her term.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all been there. What sounded like a good plan in the beginning isn’t turning out the way we hoped and situations get out of our control. We like having that control and when we realize it’s slipping out of our hands we get confused, frustrated, and maybe even a little desperate.

That’s why Pa’s advice here is golden. Even though we can’t always be in control of our situation (And let’s face it, do you really want to have to be in control?) we can still manage it.

If your finances spiral out of our control, let’s say unexpected medical bills come pouring in putting us deeper into debt. We may not be able to control the medical bills but we can try and manage our finances by creating a budget, getting an extra part time job, or even selling homemade crafts to help pay off those debts.

Maybe we are trying to sell a house and we just aren’t finding a buyer. Can you control someone’s actions and make them buy it? No. But you can stage the house or use local resources to place more classified ads for it.

Just a good thought to remember today. We may not be able to have control, but at least we can try and manage.

Do you have an encouraging story of a situation that was out of your control but within your management? Share with us below!

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

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Support Little House Living by Sharing This

14 shares
  • Share1
  • Tweet

Living Like Little House

Merissa

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gwen Hunter Valentino says

    February 16, 2012 at 10:12 am

    We started this book last night…then after the kids went to bed I finished it!! Stayed up all night but it was soooo good!

    Reply
  2. Jennifer says

    February 16, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    Good point! Something similar came up this year with my daughter. She is a gymnast and right now her routines are set and everyone performs the same one. But in 2 months she will be done with that phase of gymnastics and get to make up her own routines. She has really been struggling this year on a certain skill – a skill she has struggled with for years. It was ruining her love of gymnastics.

    I sat her down and pointed this out to her. We talked about how it is what it is, she just needs to manage as best she can and get through it until the end of the season. After years of working on this skill it likely won’t change now and after this season she never has to do it anymore if she doesn’t want to. So she has managed the past 2 months and life is much better. She still doesn’t have the skill right, she just does it as best she can and moves on.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Looking for Something?

Welcome to Little House Living! My name is Merissa and it’s nice to meet you! I’m a wife and mom just trying to make the most of what our family has. If you are looking for real life and not perfection, this site is for you! I love to write about frugal and simple living.
I’m glad you’ve found your way here!
Want to keep in touch?
Contact me
Sign up for my Newsletters.

LHL Video Library

Footer

Start Here
About
Privacy
Shop
Resources
Contact
DIY
Recipes
Simple Living
Frugal Tips
Ministries We Support

Little House Living participates in sponsored posts when we love the product and I do add in affiliate links to products that I use and love in my own home. Advertisements and affiliate links placed on this website go directly to the costs of keeping Little House Living running, support our family and ministry, and support several other missionaries and ministries as well.

© 2020 Little House Living®