One of the most glamorous jobs in farming is hauling and spreading manure. The aromas which come with the job just make you count your blessings … like if you have a cold and can’t smell anything.
However, in the spring, getting to the field to spread the joy can sometimes be challenging. Snow melts and runs down roads and trucks drive down the roads leaving ruts. Fighting my way down some ruts the other day made me think about how ruts are part of life.
Sometimes you get in a rut with a job. You don’t like it, you’d really like to get out of it, but when you turn the wheel to get out, you don’t get anywhere.
Sometimes you get in a rut with cooking. You fix the same old food, day in and day out, until you’d rather eat dirt than make meatloaf again.

And sometimes you get in a rut with finances. You can gun the engine and spin your wheels, but you just keep going deeper.
So how do you get out of the ruts of life? Just like you get out of the ruts in a road. You keep going. You give it your full attention, look for a chance to drive out, crank the wheel and go. Sometimes you have to drive slowly and carefully, sometimes you have to floor it. Often you will find yourself on dry ground with lots of traction. But
not always.
Sometimes the ruts just get deeper and deeper. Even if you’re giving it your all, sometimes the ruts will win and you will find yourself stuck in the mud, short of your goal, and calling for help. But even this isn’t always bad. In the process of getting out of your mess you can often meet lots of great people. Sometimes once you’re out, the ruts get fixed. So, you can say you had a hand in fixing a deep problem.
The thing to remember is, ruts are temporary. They are part of life. Sometimes it takes a rut to get you on to another path.
So, no matter what kind of rut you find yourself in, take heart. Keep going. Don’t give up hope and soon you can go on to bigger and better things.
Like spreading manure.