A circle of trust, and a windy airstrip.

Much like Robert DeNiro in a certain dumb/funny movie, I have a circle of trust.

Lately, there have been a few new people added to that circle. That makes me happy.

There are also a few people who are no longer in my circle of trust.  It doesn't make me sad as much as it disappoints me.

I give people just enough trust to prove themselves, but not enough to have anything over on me.  At least, not in the beginning.

I can count on one hand the number of people who know all my deepest, darkest secrets, insecurities, fears, ambitions, and dreams.  They might not each know all of them, but collectively, they do. This is more of the "inner" circle.

The "outer" circle isn't making me very proud. 

Otherwise, things are good. I'm stranded somewhere in southern Wyoming, I'm starving and sleep deprived, but there is an upside to everything.  This airstrip has wifi, and my dad has a plane and is currently flying over here to pick me up.

My dad is kind of awesome.

Gotta see the positives. 

What was I supposed to do, curl up in a ball and start crying?

This isn't the worst thing that's happened to me. Not by a long shot.

So on a terrible day, just imagine, that you could be stranded at an airstrip in Dixon, Wyoming after 30 hours without sleep and 300 dollars spent in diesel.

As I set my trusty Halliburton back on the ground against a giant loader bucket, laid out my jacket and my vest on the ground to lay on, I looked up at the sky at a cloud shaped like an old man's face. He seemed to be smiling at me as if to say, "You crazy kid. You'll look back on this one day and laugh."  Moments later, the old man was gone.

I think I'll just laugh about it today and get it over with.

The Oilfield Romantic

P.S: North Dakota just got a whole lot better. I'm suddenly hating the idea of leaving.

In the very first post I talked about looking for the perfect North Dakota sunset. 

The one last night must have been pretty close.

This is why everything is so "awesome" all of a sudden.

People might be wondering why all of a sudden, all of my facebook statuses are about everything being "awesome" or life being wonderful, etc.

Let's talk about this. 

The simple reason for which everything is suddenly "awesome" is simple: 

I decided that it is.

The problems, difficulties, and challenges in my life have not suddenly disappeared, I haven't suddenly won the lottery and paid off all my debts, and I'm not some kind of rock star-famous-beloved person by the world at large.  There are in fact people who probably hate my guts. I don't know who they are, but they might exist.

At some point recently (I'm not sure when), I decided that I would be a shining light bulb of positivity.  This may have had something to do with the trip I made with my best friend to Tennessee.

Bonnaroo was an eye opener, a moment of clarity, maybe even a kind of turning point in my life.

Amazingly, and almost immediately, things started falling into place.  People started coming through for me, work suddenly became fun, my days off became amazing, and I was offered my dream job (back home and for even more money than I currently make, I might add).

I have the most awesome friends in North Dakota.  I'm talking about Skyler Sprouse, Ethan Mckinnon, the crew at Jimmy John's, Andrea Flores, Lucas Medelez, Kylee Gamas, and the whole crew here at Western Petroleum North Dakota.

I also want to mention Ramanda and Micheal Nash and the kids. I love them.

I have some of the best of friends in Utah and Colorado, like Chett Wills, Dakota Mecham,  Mike Danelek, Allison Silva, Michayla Egbert,  Cody Young, Jason Stroud, My brother, Rondee, and Quintin Grillone.

I have the most awesome family. Over the last 5 years, I've learned to really appreciate them.  Like every family, we are full of quirks and problems, even drama from time to time, but they are amazing. I love them.

I am really good at my job.  Logistics is like a game to me, and I never lose.  I've learned so much from being here.

The project that brought me up to North Dakota turned out to be a much bigger pain in the butt than it was worth, but I don't  regret my sudden decision to pick up everything I had to move up here.  It has been a priceless, albeit challenging, experience.

I have been able to travel around a bit this last year and a half.  This isn't because I have tons of money, because I don't. I've even lost tons more money than I've even made up to this point in the year, but being creative and ambitious, I've still been able to see some cool places. I've met some amazing people.

Life is not without its challenges. It's not without heartbreak, or hardship.  I've had my share of disappointments, to say the least.  People have seriously let me down.  People I relied on to really be there for me, suddenly bailed on me. People for whom I had some very high hopes.  And you know what?

I'm okay. I'm better than okay.

I'm awesome.

I've found new people who, for now, I really can rely on to be there for me when I need them.

Life doesn't have to be about suffering, or being unhappy.  Life is much too short for any of that to be prolonged more than it has to be.  

Take a page out of my book.  I'm about to give you 10 of the rules by which I live.  These aren't all of my rules, but they are a few. 

1. Wear sunscreen. Just kidding, although this is really important for people who are lightly complected. I'm fortunate enough to not be one of those people. Moving on.

Okay, seriously. 14 of my life's rules:

1. Decide that your life is challenging, but amazing. IT WILL BECOME SO.  You're an American. You're more blessed than 96% of the rest of the planet. Don't you dare take that for granted. Many people have bled to keep the stripes red.

2. Accept what you can't change.  Stressing to death won't change the way things are, only hard work can ever do that. This takes me to my next tenet.

3. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HARD WORK. Work to live, don't live to work.  When you work, work your ass off and be the best at what you do, even if it's flipping burgers. Someone has to do that, so you might as well do a good job.  

4. Take 5 minutes every night to think about 3 things that were great about your day.  You will sleep better. 

5. Tell someone you love them.  I don't mean any random person (although I've done that too), maybe your mom or girlfriend or wife/husband or best friend or whoever. 

6.  Help someone every chance you get, but not at the expense of your own well being.  Sometimes you have to be self sacrificing, but don't make yourself unhappy to make someone else happy.  If you can't enjoy helping someone, you're seriously doing it wrong. 

7. When things go seriously wrong, take a minute and laugh about it.  It's better for your health than getting all steamed up and angry. 

8. If you get to work and realize you hate your job, think about all the people that wish they had a job, then quit being a bitch.  Make your job better by changing your attitude.

9. This is kind of a big one.  Think about what you really want.  Then think about what you're doing to get closer to that. If you aren't doing anything to attain what you really want, you need to seriously re evaluate the decisions you're making. And for all you young whipper snappers like me, don't worry if you don't know what you want.  We're at that point in our lives when we figure that stuff out.  Going on crazy adventures really helps you do that, and I'm a huge advocate of that. Crazy experiences will get you a bit closer to the "light bulb" moment when you know what you want.  

Also, it's okay if "what you want" changes from time to time.  It doesn't have to be the same forever. We constantly change, and even your deepest desires can change as well. No big deal.

10. Quit spending money you don't have, on shit you don't need, to impress people you don't even like. This will seriously help your financial situation.  

11. Instead of spending money on #9, use your hard earned cash to have meaningful experiences.  That's literally what I do. 

12. Turn off the damn t.v. You're literally spending time and money watching other people live their lives and attain their dreams. Go out and live the kind of life people would want to watch on t.v.

13. Take the word "impossible" out of your vocabulary. It's a real waste of breath. 

14. Smile as much as possible. This might require thinking of things that make you happy.  It will also require you to step up your dental hygiene. This is too neglected nowadays. Flossing is really quite important. 

There are probably a hundred country songs about this crazy tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful beautiful life.  They kind of have a point. 

Life is crazy. Life is awesome. Stop talking about living.

Get out there and start really living your life.

That's what I'm doing.

The Awesome Oilfield Romantic