The Secret to Living a Happy Life

I am unsure if I have the answer to this, but I will share a few stories of encounters with my neighbors in the Colombian countryside.

My office for the week, aka my yard + view of the mountains. Photo by me.

This week, we have been working on fixing the fence around the property. The puppy is an escape artist but doesn’t have to try hard. The fence is falling apart, and a few shrubs are nothing to a puppy. If he wants out, he will find a way.

So, everyone who lives in my house has been doing manual labor. I grew up doing manual labor and have volunteered worldwide with one goal: to work with my hands.

Except I am sore, my body hurts, and magically, almost all the stress in my life has disappeared. Instead, I am focused on working outside, in nature.

No matter how slow I work, my views are of the mountains, and I can watch the birds fly around. Today, I saw two hummingbirds dancing in the tree. They were flitting around flower to flower without a care in the world.

As I took a break, a local approached my friend and began chatting.

We had an excess of avocados, bananas, lemons, and plantains, so we offered him some. He accepted, and the next thing I knew, he was sitting with me having coffee.