I have been told, frequently in fact, that the best things in life are free.
I have resisted the temptation to adopt that outlook on life because everything about life suggests otherwise.
Yet there is that ever-nagging feeling that such a simplistic view of life has merit.
We're educated to fit into a society that defines our role in that society.
We go to school to learn to be employed. That is the purpose of our education system, to get you employed.
Having done so, we are indoctrinated, perhaps in a more subtle way, to conform to certain acceptable lifestyles congruent with the norm.
We strive to fit in and to be normal.
The most important way to fit in is to follow what others do.
In America, it is to ignore what you can afford based on what you make on your job, and to pursue instead the payments that you can afford.
You may not be able to afford a house, but you can, today anyway, afford the payments on that house.
You cannot afford a car, after all. Who can write a check for $24,000?
But we may be able to afford the payments for a car, as long as we're employed.
We cannot afford food, but that's not a problem.
Just put it on your credit card. We can afford the payments on the credit card.
And so it goes.
We become the slaves that we're trained to be.
As long as you're employed, we're brought up to believe that we can afford payments on anything.
Break that chain, however, and we collapse.
Seemingly primitive society, however, lacked the sophistication to appreciate the power of credit.
That is, payments that one can afford.
Instead, they live happily within their means.
These savages seem to simply want to be happy.
Imagine that.
Just to enjoy the wind and the rain.
The ocean and the breeze.
The company of their pairs and loved one in that old-fashioned notion called friendship.
They do not pursue the ownership of gold, but choose to simply enjoy the golden sunset of nature.
They watch to our life and feel a kinship with the birds and the crabs.
They remove their shoes and feel the warmth of the water between their toes.
And they say silly things like, thank you, God.
They silently sigh, give thanks and praise as they sit quietly and allow the elements to be their church.
They do not pursue things for the simple reason of having more than their neighbor.
They choose instead to simply enjoy the golden sunset and watch the wildlife do the same.
Thank you.
