The Only Healthy Way to Live Life

Simplicity.  A simple life.  That's a recurring theme on our family blog.  Don't get me wrong, we enjoy nice things.  We can appreciate the finer things in life.  It's just that I like the slow pace in the country.  I am so glad I don't live in a city.  We don't have privacy fences.  Our neighbors come visit, and we know them all very well.  I like the honesty that's found in rural folk.  We sell all of the excess eggs that our hens lay that we can't eat.  We put dozens of eggs in a fridge in our garage and customers/friends drive up and take what they want and leave money and empty egg cartons behind.  We've never had to worry about eggs disappearing - never even considered worrying about it.

I enjoy the freedom that country life gives you.  Sometimes... (gasp), on weekends, I'll go out to the barn to feed the animals and open the hen's nest boxes while wearing a bathrobe or even my boxer shorts and a cup of coffee.  That doesn't mean I've never been embarrassed.  I catch myself whistling a lot and singing a lot.  (I am NOT a good singer.  I can't carry a tune and don't read music and have never played an instrument, but that doesn't stop me from singing.)  My wife tells me my voice "carries," though.  One time I was on the back patio singing and when I got to the end of the song, the neighbors who live probably 100 yards away, began to clap, and whooping and hollering, making fun of me, I know.  Boy, was I embarrassed!

Enjoying the benefits of country life, appreciating a good cup of coffee, reading a good book, listening to music, piddling around in the garden, doing little home improvement projects, eating a delicious homecooked meal from ingredients off our land, taking a ride on a gravel road, laughing at a good joke or being told a good story.  Those are simple things I find satisfying and they bring me great enjoyment.  What brings you happiness?

Oftentimes, things we THINK will bring us happiness, do not.  In probably my favorite movie of all time, "Lonesome Dove," Gus explains this very thing to Lorie:  (I think it is time to watch that movie again!)

Gus lays out a prescription for Lorie’s future happiness. She is obsessed with going to San Francisco, and he wants her to understand that that dream is likely a misguided one.

“You see, life in San Francisco is still just life. If you want any one thing too badly, it’s likely to turn out to be a disappointment. The only healthy way to live life is to learn to like all the little everyday things – like a sip of good whiskey in the evening, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk, or a feisty gentleman like myself.”