Pretty sound advice ...

A little while ago a couple of my new neighbors here in North Carolina and I were talking and they gave me some "good old Southern sayings"  that made a lot of sense to me. (See the article from Jan. 30, 2020). Over the years I've had "old sayings" from guys in the Army, from some of my teachers in the schools where I worked, certainly from preachers and even some from politicians (Although I generally trust the worth of the sayings from the first groups, I really find myself questioning anything said by a politician, hesitantly listening with one hand on my holster and one hand over my wallet.).  So when my old friend Bob send me these pearls of wisdom "from an old farmer" I thought they might be worth looking at.  After all, if this is advise from an old Shelby County farmer it will generally ring true.

Advice from An Old Farmer

• Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

• Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

• A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

• Words that soak into your ears are whispered… not yelled.

• Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.

• Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.

• Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

• It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.

• You cannot unsay a cruel word.

• Every path has a few puddles.

• When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

• The best sermons are lived, not preached.

• Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.

• Don’t judge folks by their relatives.

• Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

• Live a good, honorable life… Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

• Don‘t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin' you none.

• Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.

• Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

• The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’.

• Always drink upstream from the herd.

• Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

• Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.

• If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.

• Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

• Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.

• Most times, it just gets down to common sense.

Pretty good advice.  Think I'll try to remember some of this. Better yet, maybe I can pass some of this along to others.  Maybe this might be something I will review with my grand kids.

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'." (Yoda)

Hooah