Alpaca Farming: Our Cups Runneth Over

There are days when it seems like I'm alone in my positive attitude about the alpaca business.  But today, there was a posting on a group on Facebook and it mirrored all I have been saying.  It was such a breath of fresh air reading her post.  She listed all the points I've been standing on my soapbox preaching. 

1) We need to take responsibility for our own businesses and set the attitude we want.
2) Stop blaming AOBA, ARI, those liquidating their herds, the economy.  No one said it was going to be easy and there will always be cycles of good times and bad. 
3) This is a great industry with a bright future and we are a part of it.  Those of us with passion for these animals, their fiber and have the vision of where we are headed, know we are in the right place at the right time.  We are creating something amazing and wonderful. 

This post was just perfect timing.  I had a visit this weekend from my former colleague that was during my life as an engineer.  That organization was so negative.  It was a horrific environment to work in daily.  It isn't easy with tightening wallets and slow sales to maintain that positive outlook especially when bombarded with negative comments about the industry.  I have stopped reading much of it because it just depresses me and gets into my head.  I don't need to battle those voices in my head.  My voices are loud enough at times.  Those negative voices are like so many other negative voices out there and it doesn't matter what the career.  If they take hold, so many jump on the bandwagon.  I saw it when I was at the base.  So many of my colleagues from the younger days were so negative.  That should have been a time when we were bright, eager and excited about our careers and yet, the whining and grousing was terrible.  Why?  Because that is what they heard from our leaders and those that came before us.  I never heard anyone talk about how great it was to work where we worked.  Not once.  I saw myself falling into that trap of being negative and whiny too and I didn't like myself much.  I knew I had to get out of there before I was as much of the problem as the solution. 

Those negative voices carry legs.  If they shout loud enough, they find followers and they get attention.  Those of us that are positive, tend not to respond to those negative voices which allows more and more to follow that self-defeating path.  It is perhaps a mistake that we don't raise our positive voices louder.  I know for myself, I separate myself from it and hunker down trying to deflect that negativity as best I can and work hard at staying focused on what is right and working well.  But the result of that is feeling isolated and alone.

When hearing someone else say those wonderful words of positive outlook, I saw myself grasping at it like someone lost at sea thankful for that life boat.  What was even better was seeing how many responded.  The voices out there also doing like myself doing our best to be positive in our small way, came together as a group and community.  What a welcome and wonderful feeling to see all those voices around the country sharing our same philosophy as mine.  WE are the future of this industry.  Not the negative voices.  They are the ones getting out of business!  We are the ones staying in it because this is our passion.  This is our life.  This is our choice!  We are rich and successful because we have found that life that is just made for us.  We aren't afraid of the pitfalls and downturns.  That is going to happen no matter what.  We are here with our eyes wide open, knowing there are tough times and loving each and every minute of it.  The good, the bad, the ugly.  We are making lemonade out of all of it! 

I had this t-shirt that had a cup with fluid in it and it said underneath the graphic, "Half Full."  I thought that was perfect for me but now I have a different philosophy.  I say that I try and keep that cup as full as I can because I only want it to go down to half full during my worst times.  If we keep that cup only half full at good times, then it can get rather empty during the rockier times of life.  So I now say, keep that cup full.  My goal is for my cup is to runneth over.  And most days, it does just that.  I feel my heart fill up as I watch my babies play and it filled up to the top today after reading someone else's wonderfully positive post!   

Jumping for Joy