“KITTING AROUND”
BLOG 256—Become as Self-Contained as You Can
With my words, I hope to illuminate your life.
I WANT TO INSPIRE YOU TO LIVE DIFFERENTLY OR BETTER!
*** The joy I am experiencing in life is a marvelous thing!
*** Hit by two trucks—one involving a 37-day coma—I remain happy.
*** If you read this through Facebook, check out my blog on kitsummers.com
*** After living in my van and traveling to all US states, I married Beth on 2/22/22.
*** Thanks, my wife, for editing and adding to each weekly blog.
*** I will have places to show you and tales to tell.
*** Secrets to unfold and good news!
BE TAKEN AWAY WITH ME
ON WONDERFUL ADVENTURES!
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TOPIC FOR THIS WEEK — You’re in Charge
Heard from a few about last week’s blog.
Will I hear from you?
Here is what came in >>
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“You are such a great inspiration.
Keep up the inspiring work.
Love and Light.”
–Jessica Taylor
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That is a truly inspiring post, Kit!
You are a brilliant philosopher, king!!!
–Larry Zeiger
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This week’s topic, “Be as solo as possible,” will help you as changes come to the world. Humans have never experienced the changes that are occurring, along with losses and limitations to the world. If we work together we can all get through this alright.
Beth and I have been collecting food as we can. Right now, we have enough to last us a few months. We will always be collecting for more people, not just for us in the future. We plan to help others how we can (are you hungry?).
And, remember your animals!
Make sure you have enough to feed them, too.
Along with food, we are saving water. We purchased gallons of water we had put in storage. Also, I purchased collectors for rainwater. We purchased three 100-gallon containers from here >>
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BGJ2GN4N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
I placed these water collectors right at the rainwater downspouts on our roof. They get refilled every time it rains.
We also purchased a 275-gallon used tote to save rainwater. These totes hold things like soda; after they are empty, they are not needed. Look for a food-grade used tote for liquids. You may need to use a truck to pick it up; they are big. Fortunately, our 275-gallon tote fit into my van.
Here is what a tote looks like >> https://containerexchanger.com/pages/used-food-grade-totes
Wherever you are in the world you can find totes.
I’ve hooked all our rain gutter downspouts to this system, and we will save over 600 gallons this way. And, every time it rains, these get refilled. The water is used for watering our vegetable garden and cleaning our bodies; and, after it is filtered, we can drink this rainwater (are you thirsty?)
Later, I will set up a solar panel and battery system to have electricity for things.
Have you done this?
Can you help me set up my system and help others, too?
Do you take any medications?
Start saving up all you can now to use in the future.
Just be prepared for a different future and be more self-sufficient–as you help others.
Here are ten things to help you change your life >>
1–Find Meaning in Your Life
“How do I change my life?”
Sort out what is important to you.
What is it that you want to achieve?
What are your dreams?
What makes you happy?
Your meaning in life gives you purpose and sets the direction of how you want to live your life. Without meaning, you will spend the rest of your life without direction, focus, or purpose–you’ll go nowhere.
2–Create a Hope Board
When we were young, we daydreamed all the time and thought of how we could change lives. Many of us were skilled at dreaming and visualizing what we would be when we grew up. We believed that anything was possible.
As we grew from kids to adults, we lost our ability to dream. We have “turned” into adults. Our dreams became hidden once we started to feel like achieving them was impossible.
A hope board is a great way to start believing in your dreams again.
Seeing your hopes written daily brings them to life.
It will also be a daily reminder to refocus your energy toward what you want.
3–Make Plans and Set Goals.
Once you know what is essential in your life and what your dream life looks like in the long run, you must take action and set your goals. Acting on your goals will enable you to achieve your hopes and dreams and change your life.
Remember that your goals can change. Always be flexible in setting and achieving goals, as life changes, your goals need to reflect these changes. The small steps you take create the speed when you’re learning how to change your life.
4–Let Go of Remorses
Remorses and regrets will only hold you back in your life. If you spend all your time thinking about your past, you will miss the present and your future.
How Balanced is Your Life Currently?
If you feel off, make the changes necessary and move forward.
You must discover time strategies.
Uncover hidden opportunities.
Shape your life on your terms.
Changes
You cannot change what you did or did not do in the past, just let it go. You must have control over how you live now and in your future. Challenge yourself each time you experience a pessimistic thought about your past.
If you want to have some fun, visualize letting go of your regrets. Try writing about each one on paper and then burying the paper in your backyard or burning it in a bonfire.
5–Do Something That Frightens You
This is about stepping out of your comfort zone and seeing your limitations differently.
Make a list of difficult things you want but are too afraid to do.
Start small.
Put a plan in place.
Then go do this plane.
Never stop doing difficult things if you genuinely want to avoid complacency and comfort and change your life.
6–Start Living Your Well-Balanced Life.
Our health does not stay the same. Our physical, emotional, and spiritual state will change as we age. What we can control, however, is what we tell our minds and our bodies.
Living a healthy and balanced life builds our resilience to physical changes. Exercise is the best way to attain a positive and optimistic attitude toward our lives.
Living a healthy, well-balanced life with lots of exercise is a lifestyle choice that will give you a more satisfying and fulfilled life. Exercise is a potent tool for improving your life and helping you feel good.
What exercise is best?
Just get moving!
Participate in light, moderate, or vigorous exercise–just get going!
One recent study found that people with mild to moderate depression encountered decreases in symptoms once they started exercising, regardless of whether they were on their own or in groups. The bottom line–just get moving.
7–Face Your Apprehensions.
It’s easy to ignore our fears and hope they will disappear.
Unfortunately, life does not work like that.
You have to “make” things happen.
If you want to change your life, learn to conquer your fears so they can’t longer control you. Whether it’s a fear of loneliness, failure, or the unknown, fear can stop you from living your life to the fullest. But, we know when our fears control our lives because we feel uneasy and are unfulfilled.
Once you face your fears, you will take back our power to choose how you want to live, and when you do this, you will change our life forever.
8–Accept Yourself.
The only person who can change your life is you!
To create that change, you have to like yourself.
I like you! You should, too!
There will be times in life when you face rejection, and there will be people who do not like you or your choices. Accepting who you are and loving yourself despite adversity helps you move forward in life.
You must find your courage.
Love yourself.
Step out and do something crazy.
But don’t worry about what anyone thinks or whether it is the right thing to do. If the change feels right, act on it and go create the life you love.
9–Live for Now!
Many of us think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
Often, we find that this is not so.
The motivation to change our lives comes from our desire to stay happy. We often keep ourselves so busy focusing on our pursuit of pleasure that we miss the joy of actually living in the moment.
Our desire to have joy in our lives is a desire for a future state, not the present. We become so engulfed with all our problems in the present that we miss the precious beauty of the present moment to find joy.
10–Experience the Joy of Learning!
Each time you learn something new,
you gain more overall knowledge,
and with more knowledge comes more enthusiasm and a better life!
Learning new skills helps us each to be more adaptable in new situations. It also encourages us to be more creative and innovative in our thinking, and we are, therefore, more comfortable with the unknown.
Change is one of the hardest things we can do.
Start making changes for advancement today!
You will love your happier life!
WHAT NEW STORIES ARE YOU READY TO WRITE?
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WORDS TO INSPIRE YOU!
Inspirational quotes and motivational sayings have a unique ability to change the way we feel about life and can change our thoughts. They are so interesting, challenging, and essential on our path to joy, happiness, and finding ways to inspire ourselves and others. Inspirational quotes and ideas give us a quick and timely burst of wisdom to get our focus back, offering the inspiration needed for the day or occasion.
I HOPE TO INSPIRE YOU WITH MY WORDS
WORDS HAVE POWER!
Are you accomplishing what you want before your eventual death?
At any age, you can (and should) make changes to make your life better.
How you think and feel about yourself, including your beliefs and expectations about what is possible, determines everything in your life, and it all derives from your quality of thinking.
WHEN YOU IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR THINKING,
YOU CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S QUALITY—SOMETIMES INSTANTLY!
Just as positive words can make someone smile, and a well-timed amusing quote can make someone laugh, your thoughts react to the world in real-time. You have this control! You have complete control over only one thing in the universe — Your Thinking —and that’s where motivational quotes come in!
SELF-TALK IS SO ESSENTIAL—THINK RIGHT!
To stay motivated, you have to use each day as an opportunity to improve and get closer to your goals. It might sound like a lot of work—and with your busy schedule—next to impossible. But you can do it! Motivational words, yes, are just words.
But they are positive words; they will keep you on track.
EVEN IF YOU START LATE, ARE UNCERTAIN,
OR ARE DIFFERENT –
YOU CAN STILL FIND SUCCESS!
Don’t forget that you are only as young as the last time you changed your mind!
Keep your thoughts and self-talk fun and productive, and always reach for more advancement.
Positive and inspiring quotes are like beams of sunshine on a cloudy day. They inject optimism into our thoughts, brighten our mood, and help us focus on the good in life.
They remind us that even in the face of adversity, we can see the silver lining and embrace a positive attitude.
REMEMBER–VERY LITTLE IS NEEDED TO MAKE A GREAT LIFE.
In a world filled with challenges and indecisiveness, the power of inspirational quotes cannot be exaggerated. These pearls of wisdom uniquely uplift our spirits, can spark positive change, and fuel our motivation often when we need it most.
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GET INSPIRED!
READ OPTIMISTIC QUOTES
I HOPE THE FOLLOWING WORDS AID YOU >>
The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
— Anonymous
Either you run the day, or the day runs you.
— Jim Rohn
Let fortune do her worst, whatever she makes us lose, so long as she never makes us lose our honesty and our independence.
— Alexander Pope
To be truly and really independent is to support ourselves by our own exertions.
— Jane Porter
It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Destiny is not a matter of chance but of choice.
Not something to wish for but to attain.
— William Jennings Bryan
If I am not for myself, who will be?
And if I am for myself alone, then what am I?
And if not now, when?
— Rabbi Hillel
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
— Coco Chanel
The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.
— Denis Waitley
Independence is happiness.
— Susan B. Anthony
Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
— Thomas Paine
If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
— George Orwell
True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what’s right.
— Brigham Young
Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence.
— David Ben-Gurion
COMPOSE A NOBLE BOOK AND WRITE A BEST-SELLER.
YOU ARE AMAZING—PLAY YOUR PART!
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MY DAILY JOTTINGS >>
Each week goes by so quickly, don’t you think? 
It seems time is going faster all the time. Do you keep track of what you do each day?
Keep track for a few weeks; you will see your time differently.
1/20–Someone had a birdcage for a low price, so we acquired it today. The birds are fun to watch and an excellent addition to the family.
Not much else happened today. As I’ve written before, making things happen is up to us. I must do that more often.
The Glen Beck show was on tonight, and it was fascinating.
The guest was Tony Robbins, and what great words he had to say.
Here is an example >>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SROeXXOdzY
Tony and I first met in the mid-80s. I attended a local presentation he was giving just as his business was getting going. Following his motivational talk, I participated in his firewalk, walking across a 15-foot bed of burning coals.
Later, I had lunch with Tony, just the two of us at his home.
I had just walked up to his door, knocked, and he let me in with a smile.
Then, I went to his wedding with Becky.
I’ve seen him go on to help millions of people with his techniques.
And Tony can coach you more here >>
https://www.tonyrobbins.com/free-tools/
1/22–We needed more firewood, so I chopped up a local dead tree. I also acquired wood from Ken, who cuts wood to sell using whole trees (I get his scaps). This is enough wood to make it worth the travel to get the cuttings.
Today, Beth found this list while searching the internet.
There I am, see? >>
2023–Jugglers from the United States
Jack Bremlov – Reputedly the first person to juggle seven clubs. Part of a juggling troupe ‘The Bremlovs’
W.C. Fields – Actor and vaudeville performer.
Dave Finnegan – Author of The Complete Juggler, a widely read self-teach juggling book.
Dr Hot & Neon – Numerous performances on stage and television.
The Flying Karamazov Brothers – Juggling and comedy troupe who have been performing since 1973.
Jason Garfield – President of the World Juggling Federation.
Anthony Gatto – Holds various numbers juggling world records, considered by many to be the world’s greatest juggler.
Michael Goudeau – Ex-circus clown and frequent collaborator of Penn Jillette.
(Michael was a student at Ringling Clown College in 1979 when I (Kit) was juggling instructor there).
Penn Jillette – Half of the duo Penn & Teller, who incorporates his juggling skills into their magic act.
Albert Lucas – This superb juggler holds several juggling world records. The club juggling trick ‘Alberts’ and, by association, ‘Treblas’, are named after him. Kit Summers, see below, developed these names, which are used worldwide.
Marcus Monroe – Comedian and Juggler, Winner of the Andy Kaufman Award.
Bobby May – Excellent juggler from the 19603 vaudeville performer.
Steve Mills – A terrific juggler and inventor of the juggling pattern Mills Mess.
Michael Moschen – Popularised contact juggling in the 1990s.
Frank Olivier – Numerous performances on stage and television.
Kit Summers – A well-known American juggler and author of Juggling with Finesse.
Paul Klimek – Inventer of siteswap, a great map of juggling tricks.
1/23–Worked on the garden today. I have been learning about a system called, “The Ruth Stout Method.” In this, you put about two feet of hay directly on dirt or grass where you want to have your garden. The hay will break down in time and protect the land from cold and heat and eventually feed your plants by composting with nourishment.
After picking the spot(s), break through the hay to the dirt when you want to plant. I plan on putting my potato starts right in the hay near the dirt. I’ve seen that this method works well. I will let you know later when I harvest my potatoes. Or, let me know how it works for you.
This takes hardly any work at all; you will like this much.
Learn more about this method here >>
Ruth Stout’s Worst Enemy (rhizomatous grass in a deep mulch garden)
Or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Gbi2O3xdc
This is also called the deep mulch method.
1/24–Jemma hurt her back leg some months ago, and every so often, she must land on it the wrong way, and the healing process starts all over. We’ve had to help her in the last few days to jump up on couch and the bed and such. Now it is Friday and she is doing much better. I’m glad you care.
Our critters seem happy — the rabbits, the birds, and Jemma.
1/25–Today, I spent a lot of time working on this blog. As you know, I enjoy the writing process and hope I add to your life. I hope you like my efforts.
Much rain and cloudy weather today.
This is good for the garden,
but I want to get things done, too.
1/26–Once again, awake about 3am. Right away I got out to the garden, I will be growing potatoes outside our garden I built. As you know, I am hoping to do away with all the grass and lawn we have. Vegetables and fruit are much nicer than any lawn.
Beth likes antiquing and thrift shops and spent some time at The Red Rooster in our town a couple of days. She came home with some great finds, especially this Polish Pottery that she and her sisters collected. Here they are; stop by sometime >>
https://www.facebook.com/RedRoosterEmporiumAndArtGallery/
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YOUR CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK >>
See how long you can hold your breath.
I can do, maybe, a minute; not very good.
Work on improving each day this week.
Who can do five minutes?
THIS IS YOUR LIFE — MAKE YOUR LEGACY HAPPEN!
DO SOMETHING NEW–DAILY,
THEN, KEEP DOING IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
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NEXT BLOG >>
Currently in the middle of winter.
Yet, there are still things you can do to help your garden.
I’ll tell you more about what I am doing with the garden.
Have you started work on yours?
AND WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING FOR YOUR UPCOMING WEEK?
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