Living in the Country

Living in the Country

By Carl R. ToersBijns

 

I can’t count how many times I have been asked this question by so many people. The question is difficult to answer but to simplify the answer I just tell them the truth although lengthy and somewhat idealistic in nature and content. The question is posed in a most inquisitive manner and goes like this. “Why do you want to live in the country and not the city?”

Pondering this genuine and sincere inquisition I must truthfully say that living in the country makes me feel free, uninhibited and psychologically less stressful and more relaxed. Comparing my life and how I coped with city life makes me a firm believer that I was meant to live in the country and not suburbia or even at the edge of a sprawling metropolitan city. Open spaces have a positive impact on me. It makes my heart beat slower as I draw fresh air to give my lungs a health gulp of oxygen and needed restful feelings lowering my blood pressure and clearing my mind.

Never wanted to live in a Mayberry RFD setting, I do prefer modern living inside a house that has all the amenities of a city dwelling. I feel that the main difference between the city and the country or rural style of living is the people that live there. It is the people that make the difference between stress and relaxing.

Country people are resilient and honest hard working people. They too benefit from the fresh air and open spaces as I noticed how much more relaxed they are bringing with them smiles and friendly good mornings when you go out on an early morning walk. They remain low key yet polite and savor the same things you do as you smell the freshness of wild flowers and dew on the green grass as your early morning walk finds you surrounded by stillness and hardly any moving traffic noise or other loud or obnoxious sounds found in the city.

City people frown as you walk and share the same sidewalks designed for only two people to pass at a time making it difficult to pass sometimes as politeness and courtesy often takes a back seat in the city. Never a feeling of welcome enters your heart when you enter a busy store or supermarket as you hustle your shopping cart down the aisles filled with scrambling adults ignoring others and bumping into others without so much of an apology or two for being rude.

The rural setting is more patriotic as small towns celebrate holidays we all used to back in the good old days. Filled with pride they support their schools, their churches and other civic associations. In such a setting, I suspect there are more people kin or related than the average groups inside the city.

Although they may all be relative to each other, they don’t act the same or look the same. The presence of individuality is permitted and the nuisance of gangs or ridicule is often much less than found in city schools or playgrounds.

Country living resembles what we used to call an All American town where people still appreciated good food, God and Country. They are grateful for the small blessings in life and live a simplicity that is humbling and most impressive to those coming in from the city life.

Here hidden away from the city neon lights they know how to separate their jobs from their livelihood. Limited on job opportunities they often commute lengthy distances but return back to their domicile to enjoy life at a different level than they do inside the city. Void of the hustle and bustle of large shopping malls and densely traveled roadways, country living has a tempo that is easy to keep up with once you leave the city limits behind in your review mirror.

 

The time after work is time for play. This is a most healthy approach to living with less stress and beneficial to the cause of enjoying life as it was meant to be. Taking the time to spend quality occasions with family and discuss or plan future events that may involve continued educational plans, retirement or basic social events to pass the time away.

Truthfully speaking there is a limited dependency on the city by country folks. They must admit that this relationship is based on job availability, career plans and educational needs to become better prepared for the future. The country style however, gives them the stability and tranquility required to keep things in life focused to ensure time is not wasted or misused in the development of self or family.

So it seems that the rural way of life is beneficial but that living close to the big city gives them a sense of complete wholeness for families and kids to grow up in but all the amenities of suburbia including a better infrastructure and social services to serve the community and surrounding areas.

Living in rural setting yet still entwined with the city can still separate the conceptual thinking with open state of mind. It makes the 9 to 5 easier to commute as there is joy exiting the work-world when the 5 o’clock whistle blows, giving you time to unwind and make your escape from reality for a little bit of time away from the rat race and unwind in a peaceful state of mind. Lastly, country living can give you open spaces unlike the crowded city parks as in the country, there are green grass parks where you can walk and play in sandboxes in your own back yard as you transform your acres into large playgrounds designed for with the family fun on weekends and week nights