It’s a cliche to say that the best things in life are free but if you pay close attention, you’ll find this statement to be very true. I’ve had an extraordinary opportunity to do what many people would consider mundane things but they’ve had a tremendous impact on me. First, spending an unprecedented amount of time with my kids has been phenomenal. We’ve had the opportunity to live care free days and heading to the pool, a movie, a nearby city, a park, and many other places on a whim.

I’ve had the opportunity to visit my grandfather at the nursing home. I can see a bit of his light dwindle every time I visit him and there are days when he doesn’t recognize any of us and then there are the good days. I’ve also had the opportunity to visit family and friends and not be pressed to get home early so I can get well rested for a brutal day of work the next day. I helped family chop down trees and build new fences. I’ve had time to plant, water, weed and smell the roses. I’ve had the opportunity to share food I’ve grown with friends and family.

Lastly, my health has improved tremendously and I suspect getting plenty of rest, exercise, eating home grown foods without hormones, antibiotics or other crap and eating food fresh daily has made an enormous difference. Gone are the vitamins, fish oil, supplements, and medicines. I haven’t taken an aspirin in months!

So why go back and give all of this up? The simple answer is that we don’t know what the future holds and I just assume keep working until I am no longer able to or until I have a stack of money so high I can easily convert it to compost for my garden to keep me well fed.