I don’t know who is crazier – Cindy or me.
Several years ago, Cindy and her husband Dan were planning a mini-vacation. They couldn’t go, however, until they had someone to take care of their newly acquired chickens. For some crazy reason, Cindy came to work one day and said, “Angus, would you chicken sit for us while Dan and I go away for a long weekend?”
It's All About Me
I do not even have a plant.
Now, for those of you who don’t know me well, let me give you some background on Angela, aka Angus. I do not have children. I do not have a spouse or significant other. I do not have a pet, not even a goldfish. I do not even have a plant. In short, I am responsible for only me; I don’t take care of others. I have been accused innumerable times of thinking that it is all about me. I even have a sign, a journal and a keychain in one of my bathrooms that all reflect “it’s all about me.” It makes you wonder what Cindy was thinking when she asked me to chicken sit.
With all of that being said, I used to have a spouse, who arguably I should have never married; we were together for about a dozen years. We used to have a dog that I didn’t want. He lived for 13 years – of which I took care of him seven years on my own. We also had a cat – that I also didn’t want – for about 12 years with nine of those years being cared by solely me. All three of them are now dead. I also am not known for being an outdoors person or for taking care of livestock. I don’t even mow my own lawn. I’m not sure I should put any of that on a pet- or chicken-sitting resume. Again, how crazy was Cindy’s thinking when she decided to ask me to chicken sit?
These Questionable Things About Me
I was too scared to live.
On the other hand, I have grown a lot over the past 2 ½ decades. I used to be painfully shy and too scared to live. I would not willingly participate in anything new or adventurous. I constantly lived with a sick-to-my-stomach feeling, fearful of everyone and everything. To be fair, Cindy might not have known all these questionable things about me when she asked me to chicken sit for her.
Now, I say yes to a lot of new activities so that I can have an adventurous life – I have flown to South Africa and the Philippines on my own. I have walked a half-marathon. I have randomly gone up to strangers and given them money or scratch-off lottery tickets. So, was there a yes in me for chicken farming?
I assume Cindy was looking for a trustworthy individual and, seemingly, in her eyes, that was I.
Random Question of the Week
Trust and Faith
Which oddly enough brings up this week’s random question: What is the difference between trust and faith? Trust, according to Oxford Languages Dictionary, is a “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of someone or something” while faith is a “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” So, did Cindy have trust or faith in me or my abilities? The second definition for faith is a “strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.” Since faith’s definition includes the word trust, does that make faith a subset of trust? Do you have to have trust in order to have faith? Can you trust someone without having faith in them? Seemingly, trust and faith are synonyms according to their first definitions, but are distinctive if we use faith’s second definition. So, when Cindy asked me to chicken sit, perhaps it wasn’t craziness that she was experiencing, but trust and faith. And when I said, “Yes, I’d be happy to chicken sit,” it wasn’t craziness either, but trust and faith that I was meant to be a chicken farmer if only for short terms periodically.
Faith in the Spirit
Trust in the Process
As always, when I start writing, I have no idea what the ending will be. Based on faith, I knew the title for this post should be Chicken Farming, Part I, but I honestly had no idea where that title would lead us. I just trusted the process and ended up here. I don't know what Part II will bring, but you can have trust and faith that Chicken Farming, Part II, will be coming your way soon.
Sending you trust and faith for the adventures that are calling your name,
Angela Jane