In Defense of Doing Hard Things | Esther Emery
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ค. 2024
- Hey, is it Thursday? Because this is kind of like one of those old Thursday talks... The long winter is (almost) over and I'm shifting gears again.
the Fouch-o-matic channel -- / fouchomaticoffgrid
My mother's book -- alexa.design/2ot4GlW
My own book -- alexa.design/2okYJoT
The EASTER EGG BOOK HUNT continues! If you're hunting for good homesteading channels, go see...
Tangi the Caver's Wife - / mom2miniwheets
AND The Pratt Family Homestead - / @prattfamilyhomestead
Enjoy! - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Where did you guys go? 😞 We miss you terribly
Man! I miss you guys so much! I hope you come back. This is one of my most favorite videos on all TH-cam.
Me, too, yet I understand her reasons.
Dear Esther, I miss your videos.
@estherEmery I was just reading your book again. I miss you so much! I totally understand you staying away, but I miss you! We need more ppl like you now more than ever 🙏♥️
Wishing you all well this Christmas season! Even though we don't see anymore videos, I hope that you guys see this message and know that we all care about each and every one of you! Have a wonderful Christmas and a Very Happy New Year! Cheers to you guys! Im sure the kiddos are super grown up now! I miss Nicks videos on building and also the breakfast videos! God bless you guys!
Gosh, I miss your family channel too. I learned so much and I enjoyed watching your family. The comments were turned off on the other channel. I hope you are all happy and healthy. I am sure your children have grown so much. Sending a big fan hug. God Bless.
Amen.
Ester, This talk struck a cord with me. The razor edge of doing everything and doing nothing. Two years ago, our family began to understand that the instructions of the Torah were still for us if we still want to be the creator's children. But most people fall onto one of two sides of the razor edge of obedience. Half believe that those instructions are way too hard and convince ourselves that they can't possibly be how we are supposed to live. Another half believe that we need to do way more than instructed just so that we don't violate the creator's law. (The third half, which is bigger than the other two, just say there is no creator and therefore there are no instructions) So for me and my household, we obey the simple instructions and trust and obey (Deut 30). Thanks for your encouragement and helping to find the balance. Shalom.
Today your mother’s book is purchased and on its way to me. It has been three years of waiting to once again listen to your wisdom. Not because you were always right. But because you have the wisdom to know that you are not. Because you know that sometimes you must quiet yourself and think. Pray. Seek. Absorb.
The world has just changed. The whole world changed. I don’t recognize it. But, I do not look to the world to feel safe, or to measure my successes or my failures.
The people I choose to listen to model this basic ideal. Where ever you are, what ever you are devoting yourself to, I would like you to know that you have influenced me, encouraged me and affirmed me. You have done all of these things for me without knowing me.
Where ever you are emotionally I want you to know that I believe you are doing the next right thing. You are taking the time you need to discover a correction to a path you found not fitting.
I wand to tell you that I am thankful for the lessons you have taught me that have given insights to a way of life so many of us long for. A productive life full of hard work and a strange kind of adventure. An adventure the world cannot appreciate because they are blinded by the hating of things rather than finding the beauty.
Dear Esther. I do miss you. I am old. But living well. I am brave because I don’t look to people for my worth or ability to do what they believe I should do. I am so thankful for your instruction.
I believe what path you are on now has moved. Please know that there is someone who wishes you well, misses your voice, and knows you are working on what you believe you must.
I wanted you to know.
Sincerely,
Jodi
Thank you Esther for your support. It's much needed when no one around me gets me.
very well said Esther, i think you spoke for many of us especially in our age group. I found myself waking up 20 years later just like you said and now i have woken up and am once again perusing my dreams. thanks for the wonderful start to my morning.
Today is a gift, tomorrow is but a thought. Breathe the mountain air and TRUST HIM for every moment. Esther, thank you for sharing........... Bell family
Ester, I am so hoping that you and the rest of the family will come back. I understand that you have had a very hard time of things but please consider that there are 160 thousand people who would love to see you back on the Fouch Family channel.
With each video, you become more and more one of my favorite philosophers.
I can imagine developing a personality sorter based on the insights here where there are, say, four personalities corresponding to the seasons. It could help people better understand themselves and get along with others better.
Dear Esther, you have a wonderful way of expressing thoughts that I'm sure most people have,but are either not able or are unwilling to acknowledge.Thank you for your bravery in leading the way and shining a light on the path that we all wend our way along.My to-do list seems endless,particularly in spring;so I try to let the natural flow of what needs doing according to nature be my best guide.My lazy winter self invariably wants to stay in the cocoon.
Esther, thank you for always being open and caring. This is a wonderful discussion, and one that the world has pushed us into the middle of the road -- a place I call "average". When we attempt to do "that which is too hard" sometimes we get lost. Is getting lost a waste of time and energy? I say, no. Some of the most beautiful places I have found in the world are when I was lost. Some of the most wonderful, beautiful, loving relationships have been formed when I am lost. On the other end of the spectrum, if I am not making mistakes, I am not learning, I am not expanding. Some of life's greatest moments start off as a mistake, a lesson. But through mistakes comes inspiration and a new point of view.
The mistake that I often use when I am teaching is one that happened 4 miles from where I live. A scientist was working for a Mining and Manufacturing company. He was tasked with creating a glue that was the strongest ever. Instead, he failed. He make a glue that would stick to paper extremely well, but be easy to stick the paper to almost anything, remove it, and stick it again on another object. The company is 3M, the product that came out of the failure is the "Post-it" note. He was reaching for the stars, fell into the dirt, and created one of 3M's most profitable product lines.
Life is a journey, When you have arrived at the end, they put a date after the dash on your headstone.
Thank you for this message. If you are successful in everything that you do, you have found "average". Make mistakes, get lost, enjoy where you end up -- it may be a far greater place than the one your were originally going for.
Much Love
Minnesota...
I'm so glad I found this again!
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and thoughts. Your message was exactly what I needed to hear today. My husband and I have been questioning our decision to homestead while both working full time. It is a hard thing but after watching this, I feel better about continuing on. We love what we do and I want to look back and say "we did it!"
This was very encouraging today! I love how "raw" you are in your videos.... it makes it easier to relate to what you are talking about. There's not enough of that in the world today. Thank you for making yourself vulnerable to encourage others :)
I do miss your videos so much. I sure hope you guys start doing videos again. Your videos are so awesome.
Thank you, I am feeling in a fog as well. My husband and I have been saying since our kids were little that when our youngest graduated high school, we would sell our house in the city and move. Our youngest graduates next month and so I am packing and we are selling our house. We own 5 acres about 25 miles out of town in a rural community on a mountain. Now comes the hard part of learning curves and questions. So thank you for all of your wisdom.
Thank you for your kind words and the deep inspirational thoughts. Keep doing what you do. Cheers!
Praying for your family as winter sets in here and there.. blessings from our gracious God above..
Miss you and your family. Stay safe.
Just the words, Esther, I need to hear at the end of multiple-targets-day number umpteen. You are becoming a very reliable source for real-life brass tacks. I'm going to thank God for urging you to share your thoughts and heart, while I head out to check on my own leggy tomato starts. Bless you for this one!
Hi Esther! I miss seeing you guys sooo much!! I often look on the Fouch family Channel hoping there will be something new!! you guys are/were a great source of inspiration! are you guys gonna do any updates for us soon? or am I missing something on a new TH-cam channel?
I hope you guys are doing great!!
and know that I respect your descision of not being fulltime "tubers" anymore!!
Peace!!
Thank you. Your "Thursday" chats so often touch my soul. Please continue sharing.
I homesteaders for many years while working a full time job. I raised dairy goats for 25 years milking twice a day. Made cheese, goat milk soap, yogurt, kefir. Chickens, rabbits and many other projects. Those at work would say "that's too much work". I am now retired and can no longer raise and harvest all of my own food. I found it enjoyable.
Best to you and your family.
Esther, I think you're such a beautiful person. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
I enjoy watching your family and feel so sad that you are not doing it anymore.But life does move on and so should l and l do agree with what you are saying .Now is all we have and procrastination is makes for a lazy life .Sometimes we need to do nothing but not always.
Hi Esther. I love your Thursday talks ! I live Brisbane, Australia and regular watch both of your channels but I had missed your Thursday talks over your winter. I enjoy your honesty and insights about living an authentic life. It's so easy to feel lost and discouraged when your doing the 'hard things' but you"re so right, it's ok for it to be messy and sometime not perfect but on those days it tests your faith just a little. Thank you Jodie
Thank you, Jodie! I believe the Thursday talks are back.
You are a inspiration to us all. I to am a fall person also. God knows our insecurities and will help us get through it al. Praying always gets us through. God is always there to help. Love you. You are precious
Thank you for sharing the what I think is a raw moment of your life. It is what I needed to hear today, and am grateful to hear someone else say it. Even at my age (just a wee bit older, lol) I still feel this way. Blessings
Oh, Esther..... My heart is so full that I can't find words, only gratitude and love for you. And for those dear commenters who could find and express the words for me. I miss and need these talks so much. We all do. You validate us, give us permission to love every part of ourselves and our own process of growthfulness, and you show us we're not alone!
Thank you!!
You are so right. Those who don't try, don't accomplish anything. Also, all advertising is trying to make us feel helpless, and feel like the only solution is to buy what they advertise. Because that's how they sell more stuff.
Your words well so needed and of blessed timing. Thanks for your openness and the vulnerability you allow. When I have no one to offer encouragement, God placed this video in my path. Enjoy your beautiful journey and thank you!
Amazing video - every word was perfectly placed. Encouraging, honest, vulnerable, and still seeking the balance in life while accepting imbalance as the inevitable ingredient of a life lived with intention.
Great talk Esther! It really resonated with me. As I am like you in the aspect of fall being my time of renewal and excitement. I struggle with a couple of chronic disabling conditions and I fight every day through the hard things to the side where I can say I did my best and that I can be proud of where I am. Thank you for all of your talks and your wisdom!!!
Oh how I wish you were still doing the videos of . Fouch family off grid.... I miss Little Sadie saying'' goodnight little house '' I hope you are all doing well @sending love to you all 🙏❤️🙏happy new year 2020... Great talk Ester@I think you are a born writer 👍
Miss your channels much. Wish you plenty of good in a new spring. A big fan in Germany
Anja Schatz yes. Yes. Me too! I’m rewatching old videos to get my touch family fix.
Thank you! Touching video that spoke to me about my own brokenness and dis-ease. I appreciate you and your willingness to be real.
Had that "the preacher is speaking directly to me" feeling. This is the message I needed to hear today. In tears. Thank you.
Thank you so much for taking the time to say these things. Im so grateful to be able to have people like you that I can come to for a pep talk when life is so isolating in this Homestead, Natural, “against all we were taught”, small lifestyle.
Esther has anyone ever told you that you are very good with words? There's other gifts that you share with Nick: the ability to work hard on what you truly believe in, and the ability to focus on what's important to your lives.
I think this video is one of your best, and you have a lot of fantastic videos. Struggling with all sorts of insecurities is part of the culture we live in today and it's not easy to navigate. Personally, I think my husband and myself have been able to reject many of the aspects of materialism that Western society has tried to force down our throats but there are aspects that I really struggle with. So yes, at the end of my life I hope I can look back and say that I tried.
Thank you. So important
I really needed to hear this. I am absolutely exhausted in the summer time, and yet full of energy in the fall and winter.
Sharon McCue same here! I thought I was the only one!
Me to
Keep going Esther. Really proud of you for doing what you do! I am 64 and live in Boise. I learned about you on Dialogue with Marsha Franklin. I've read your book, Falling from the Sky, which was very good. I had rotator cuff surgery 2/8/17 and I have to honestly say I feel like if I get on the wrong side of the slope, I won't get it back!..Absolutely love the way you can express your innermost self! You are very comfortable within and believe me, it shows. Great for you. Never give up. You're doing what I wished I'd have done at your age, but alas, the Lord had different plans for my life. You and your family have been a part of my healing "time-out" from the world and it is a real joy to see you triumphant over this fallen world we live in. My hats off to you. Never give up!! The best to you. Annette
Beautiful! Your talks always speak to my heart and bring tears. 😢❤❤
Beautiful talk. Thank you
Thanks Esther! I needed to hear parts of this today.
Love your heart to hearts❣. Keep smiling and keep sharing your voice like your Mothers is making a difference, as are all those who are doing likewise and it's growing. Thank you so much for your heart and for taking the time and energy to put all this content/information together.
Praying the Lord keep you and you family healthy and safe and steadfast in the course he has set out for you🙏🏽
Wow - thank you for that! I appreciate how articulate you are and that you put yourself out there in such a sincere heartfelt way.
I needed to hear this today. Thanks.
We miss you guys!
Thank You Esther. It just really helps to hear that Even if it's not perfect it's still very worth doing. It is important to keep showing up. You have enriched my life so much and I thank you for that.
thank you so much!
Two of my favorite words are "process" and "balance." Without oversimplifying life, I'm amazed at how often these two words intersect my approach to life. The need for instant gratification has possessed our modern world to the exclusion of enjoying good things in life--good things that come only through a process of achieving a "balance" or the striving to achieve a balance. I believe it is the extremes that side track us to spin our wheels on the unimportant and ultimately divide or ruin us. Balance and process can apply to all areas of our life as well. In our churches, our political stances, even everyday things like cooking...have you ever enjoyed something where an ingredient like salt was out of balance? Or have you ever enjoyed a cake for example that didn't finish the entire baking "process?" This is a lifestyle philosophy for me I suppose. All of this to say, I want to encourage you this Spring to see life as a beautiful process, the ups and downs are normal, but striving for a balance is where we can find great joy. Hard work is cruicial, but rest is equally as crucial. I think our society tends to glamorize or glorify being busy and equate that with hard work, but I think that is misnomer. Finding the balance and right rhythm of hard work and rest is what can ultimately give us energy to continue in the process of life. Many blessings to you....sorry for hijacking your comment feed.
Really needed this today!
You are an inspiration and a blessing. I just ordered your book and am excited to read it. Fall is also my season of biggest and strongest change. What a great amount of wisdom to be able to see the life cycles and steer towards growth no matter what season we are in. God bless you!
You are amazing! Thank you! Thank you for your passion!
This particular video seemed to hit a sore spot in my soul today, i really needed this talking-to. Thank you.
Thank you!
Wise words. True words. I needed to hear this today - Thank you!
Cyndi in MN
What a way with words you have. I am not a homesteader but I am inspired by you and your family. I am trying to be more self sufficient and have read your book. You have such a calmness about you that is refreshing. Great video!
Ha! Balance is my war cry! The hard thing is that the balance changes day to day, sometimes minute to minute, doesn't it? I had the pleasure of meeting your Mom, probably 20 years ago at a Farm Day demonstration and here in NE Ohio and she personified striving to find balance. Blessings on your spring, that you will be able to look back and see an order, a moving forward in the chaos.
THANK YOU! Fantastic talk and so inspirational as allways!
Aw.....I needed this. Thank you so much.
Awesome, Esther! Thank you for sharing your great thoughts. 😊
Thank you for a beautiful talk and for sharing Esther! I have recently found you and your family on TH-cam. I am the person who didn’t step out 20 years ago and am now realizing I still can now.
I have no advice because really we can only ever listen to our own spiritual essence inside - other people offering advice is many, many times just plane overwhelming.
Thank you so much for sharing this even knowing there will be possible judgements and lots and lots of advice.... and thank you for being so real, so human, and sharing. I have always and will always sometimes stumble and sometime glide through, as I continue on my journey. Just keep going.
Thanks for the encouragement today! It was well received! I needed that! Many blessings in doing the hard things in life!
Toodles🌷🌷
Hello Wonder-full Esther ~ your heart is so full & thank you for sharing it with us
Thank you
I'm not Christian and I realize you are and I really appreciate how you keep your talks apart from that. I really enjoy them and this one speaks to something I have faced myself. One of your better ones. Thank you!
lavenderdawnstar, for most Christians, what are and do says everything about us. I don't know if you practice a different faith, or you practice no faith (which more often than not is a faith). I bet what you believe and do reveals who you are. And I don't expect you, or anyone else to be any different from whom you are. Speaking as a devout Christian please don't expect us to hide who we are. It shows, anyway. I'm glad you appreciate Esther, she is speaking to you after all. She encourages us, not converts us.
This is such an important subject in my life; I am deeply grateful that I get to rewatch this over and over. In fact, it's a very helpful thing to listen to while I get physical work done near the laptop computer (which migrates as I move my work). It's like my own cheering section, telling me that starting a new career at 57, moving myself to a studio apt from double the square footage, really embracing that renewal of Spring even with it's exhaustion, at any time of year, is actually important and possible. Thank you again for helping me answer my inner doubter with resilient thoughts. I'm so glad to have Fouch-o-matic Off Grid back again after the summer break and I am so, so looking forward to the next video on this, your private channel. They serve such different, related needs. Thank you, enormously, for the companionship and insights.
Yeah. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I adore these introspective moments.
Wow. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
this blessed me soooo much! thank you for being vulnerable!
Ur beautiful Esther inside n out ur an amazing mom, wife, teacher, woman, ty for sharing 🤗💚🌱
Thanks Esther, very insightful and welcome sharing.
There was a point in which I was so intently listening and I realized my eyes has filled with tears. The truth in it all. All of these feelings Im battling and celebrating. So much confusion engulfs me but I am also certain of so much as well. God must see me as a hot mess. You made me feel normal for a moment in a world of ups and downs. ty
That was beautiful, thought provoking and encouraging!! Thank you 💚
Wow. Such a beautiful message. Thank you
I miss this channel and wish Esther was still making videos.
My mom bought your moms book and she used to live wilderness living in Alaska. I now own that book that is loaded with my moms notes in the sidelines! I loved this video and needed what you said today! Thank you!!! 😃
Thanks Esther this really spoke to my heart today.
Thanks, Betty!
I don't know how I missed this one when you did it.... but... I needed to hear it now
Such a powerful, philosophical discussion today. You are a true credit to your Mothers spirit of independence , self reliance and intelligence.
There are many times that I have to force myself to attempt doing the hard things, particularly when it's something I don't want to do but I know it needs to be done nevertheless. It's at these times that I remind my self to find the joy in the moment and to remember that hard work is a gift.
Thank you for your candor and your encouragement. You are a blessing!
Esther, are you gone for good?
Wondering that myself...
Well said as always
Thank you. I so completely understand. Spring has always brought mixed emotions for me also. I feel so excited about the possibilities brought by better weather and the chance to start working on all the ideas that flowed so freely during the quiet, still months. Then a great mountain seems to grow when I actually start the work needed, a mountain that seems enormous with many ways to travel but with no clear marked paths. So I often find myself just stopping because it seems like there is no way to ever make it to the top and I start doubting if it is even worth the effort. It takes lots of retrospect and remembering the joys of the previous harvest season to remind myself why I hike that mountain every year. The first steps in spring are always my hardest regardless of how much I prepare myself for another hike. My hope, every year, is that I start enjoying the hike a little sooner. It is so easy to miss out on so much joy if you convince yourself the only good view is from the mountain top.
Thank you for taking us along at your homestead
Dearest Esther I truly miss these talks I understand your spring fever i am so much the same i am running is 10 directions everyday to do as much as i can and without ever finishing anything ...You really do give me direction sometimes. I think it is (for me anyways) i have been so housebound for so many months when the snow goes away i am crazed with excitement, i want to do as much as i can in the short time allotted me so i maybe try things out of my skill set...But i try and until the snow flies again i will and i come inside for yet another long winter and make my plans for the next spring i will build and grow and try new things no matter how hard Bless you Esther i hope you decided to do your talks again on your channel
Very inspirational. Thank u kind heart.
Esther, I've gained so much value and strength from your generous contributions online. I've only recently subscribed to your personal channel, and this video choked me up several times, so strongly resonating with my experience and, surely many others. Your ability to verbalize your heart helps me regain my footing, my words, which I cannot ever place a value on or thank you enough for. You're an essential hand in times of rapid energy and returns (expected & otherwise) on your investment will continue to support your growth and human evolution. This may be your most bountiful fall on its way. I think it's healthy to recognize our seasons and heed the wisdom of our natural cycles, squelching fear with compassion. Thank you for sharing authentically and being solution-oriented. Our children will live a more peaceful, connected world because of our investments in this transitional energy. I must believe that. Thanks can't be said enough. You are a phenomenal model for your children, continued legacy for your mother's determination, and teacher of human awakening. Here's to 1M copies and overflowing connection.
Thank you so much for saying so. How lovely of you!
Esther, thank you! I've been on this journey to get to where you are for the last 2 years. It has been a journey to get to the place to where I believe I am meant to continue my own legacy. I live in Southern AZ, about 15 miles north of Mexico and myself and my fiance are moving to your neck of the woods... Northern part of Idaho. Your words gave me so much encouragement to keep plugging away, doing the hard things. Our hopes are to have purchased a place by the end of 2019 summer, bring our horses and dogs and start the next chapter! Thank you again and I'm going to buy your book and your mothers book as well! It really is remarkable how I have been struggling and then by keeping on, I came across your channel and your Fouch family channel. I love them both and am so encouraged by your families authentic sharing and building your dream. Thank you for your transparency and offering of your spirit to me and everyone!!
Hey Esther what happened to yalls family channel i havent seen a new video in a long time
Thanks for this truly inspiring video. So much wisdom shared with love and compassion. A friend of mine always says "FAILURE IS NOT PERMANENT, IT'S JUST PART OF THE PROCESS."
Thank you ! I needed this encouragement.😘
I love your Thursday chats Esther! Yay! Thank you. They are so cathartic to my soul. My family loves your videos. We are trying, and fighting hard to move out of this house in the city to a homestead so we can teach our children these lost skills of being fully human and our connection to this earth. Our fight now of fixing up our house enough to be able to sell it for more than we owe on it is testing our will and strength. It is hard and I am impatient for it to be over, but it is all apart of the journey. Little eyes are always on me to see how I handle the hard things in life. This week full of house projects I will be taking time to plan and prepare fun and celebration this Easter Sunday. I'm curious how the Fouch's celebrate a simple, people oriented Easter? Blessings to your beautiful family.