Hi, I am Sheridan Visser, welcome to my short story in which I bet many of you can relate. I write this blog in order to give encouragement to anyone who may be making huge leaps of faith and perusing drastic life changes. Whether you are new to agriculture, moving to a new area or taking on new endeavors, I want to share with you a tid-bit of hope and inspiration. AKA: I want to let others learn from my mistakes.

But first, here is a little about me. You may have seen the username @SheridanLoraine pop up on many of Haley’s Dry Creek Ranch social media posts. She has graciously asked me to write a guest blog for her website.

It’s a long story how me and Haley became best friends, so I’ll just give you the short version. Our husbands have been good friends for many years, so when I moved to North Dakota in December of 2016, Haley took me in like family.

You see, I rein from a land far far away called Amarillo, TX. I lived there my whole life until I ran into a North Dakota cowboy at a dance hall in Amarillo, TX called Guitars and Cadillacs. He asked me to dance. And then he asked again, and again, and again. Austin and I got married in June of 2017 and will continue this dance together forever. However, now our lives consist of a whole different kind of dance called ranching. We currently run a commercial herd of almost 200 cows, 100 meat goats and a handful of feeder pigs and chickens.

I haven’t always been a rancher. There is farming and ranching in my family’s history and within extended family. However, I grew up on a 20-acre place just outside of Amarillo. I dabbled in agriculture through 4-H and FFA and got a degree in agriculture, but I hadn’t grown up directly involved with production agriculture. I came into ranching because it has been Austin’s dream his whole life. I fell in love with his vision and his passion for it and it quickly became my own passion as well.

Now to say I fell right on board with the dream of ranching makes it sound easy. This major life change and move across the country far away from everything I knew and loved was by no means easy. But it is where many life lessons began. The most impactful one being:

~BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED~

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” Lao Tzu

I moved to North Dakota in December of 2016 right in the middle of what some of the locals say was one of the worst blizzards they had ever seen. This kicked off a long and difficult adjustment period. So trust me when I say that this newfound mindset was not easily obtained.

It was after months of struggling with depression and negative mental health that I came to this realization. I was the only one that had the power to choose to be happy and prosperous here. No amount of complaining or comparing to my previous life in Texas was going to make North Dakota any warmer or my family any closer. I was the only one missing out on the opportunities around me and the beauty that surrounded me because I was comparing it to everything I knew before.

I made a promise to myself then that I was going to bloom wherever I was planted. That I would enjoy the life I was living instead of imagining and comparing to what could be. And big things happened once I accepted this truth.

First, I found my tribe. I opened up more and found my new community of people. Haley, Max and Little Max have become family to us and we are blessed to have so many memories and adventures we get to share as two young, ranching couples. It is so important to find genuine friends to share your life with.

Second, I decided to get involved in the community and expand my network. I joined the local fire department and took Emergency First Responder training. Thanks to Haley, I jumped headfirst into North Dakota Farm Bureau and became the county secretary and immersed myself into the statewide activities. This was a breath of fresh air. It is human nature to want to be a part of something bigger. And I encourage anyone struggling with finding their purpose to go out and get involved in something bigger than yourself. It changes you, and it is the backbone of rural communities.

~STEP OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE~

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Neale Donald Walsch

Try new things. If you find yourself in a rut, try something new. You don’t want to look back on life and realize you lived the same year over and over for 70 years. For me, it was being fully immersed into ranch life, learning to rope and joining the fire department. Not only did it expand my network but it also opened up exciting opportunities that made my life more enjoyable.

Don’t limit yourself to what you think you are capable of. You are so very capable of things that you have yet to even know exist. This was me before my big move. I did not grow up in a ranching community, but ranching tends to have a way of putting you in situations where you learn these skills quickly. Due to necessity, I can now wrestle calves just as good (if not better) than most men out there, I am becoming a respected roper in the branding pen and I can face my fears in sticky situations when doctoring cows/calves in the pasture.

Doing something is always better than doing nothing. One successful step forward gives you the courage to take another, and every great venture and personal growth starts with the first step. When you find yourself doubting if you should take another leap of courage, just do it.

~MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS~

“Just because no one else can heal or do your inner work for you doesn’t mean you can, should, or need to do it alone.” Lisa Olivera

This is a delicate but very important subject in which I am by no means an expert. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know what helped me.

Take care of yourself. You are your most important asset on the farm/ranch. You wouldn’t hesitate to keep the tractor in good shape. Do the same for yourself. Get adequate sleep, don’t push yourself past your limits, be safe in everything you do, manage stress and eat healthy. These are all steps in maintaining good physical and mental health.

You are not alone. In the United States, almost half of adults (46.4 %) will experience a mental illness during their lifetime. There is a stigma around mental health from generations before, but that stigma is being broken down more and more. It is more acceptable than ever before to be able to talk about mental health, stress, and anxiety. I encourage anyone struggling with this to seek help whether it’s from a close friend, religious leader, family member or professional. The first step is always to admit you need help and seek it. There are countless resources to reach out to but here are a few of my favorites:

· NDSU Extension Farm and Ranch Stress

· Wisconsin Farm Bureau Mental Health Resources

· Texas A&M Agrilife Texas AgrAbility

Confide in your faith. Each person has their own unique and individual relationship with their Creator. In the ups and downs of life I find peace in Jesus Christ. There is something very powerful about having such a loving, powerful God in which you can just lay down your burdens to.

After embracing these three truths, my life changed entirely. I began to see the beauty in the change of season. To see how winter brought challenges but it also brought a time of rest since there is less daylight hours. It made me appreciate the heavenly summers that we do have. And I have seen firsthand my personal growth as a result of taking on such a grand venture.

I have come to appreciate the people that make up my new community and the neighborly culture that comes with it. Rural North Dakota consists of some of the hardest working, selfless, and caring people you will ever meet. They are resilient and they want to see others succeed and they go to great extends to help their fellow neighbors.

I also made myself a priority among all the other things and set aside time to take care of myself. You can get involved, find your tribe, and try news things until the cows come home, but if you are running on an empty tank then all the other things may become added stresses. Fuel your mind, body and soul with what it needs.

Life is a crazy and ever-changing roller coaster, but each bend, twist and curve has the opportunity to be enjoyed or overcome. Just like being on a roller coaster, the more you try to fight it the scarier it seems. So throw your hands up, embrace the changes and choose how you are going to take on this crazy ride we call life.

Guest Blog- Bloom Where You Are Planted