Living Well...

George Herbert is attributed to the quote "Living well is the best revenge".

For years, I thought that meant you had to be able to 'one up' your nemesis, by ending up richer, more powerful, aging slower, so when you should meet in passing years later you could turn away smug in the knowledge that in the end, you'd won.

 Well, I will tell you that I have bettered pretty much all who had wronged me in one way or the other. But in most cases it's not because I am richer or more powerful or more successful or aging better, it's because I lived. I moved on. I found happiness without them. All over the UK and Europe I have met the most interesting people, and I dare say that perhaps a handful are closet millionaires but most barely make ends meet. They come from all walks of life, from the busker singing for change to the pub keeper pouring your pint. Perhaps he's the entrepreneur who created this great farmhouse cider I'm drinking.

The point is that there are many ways to live well, and the best way to do it is, well, to Live. Well.

You don't have to have Bill Gates' money to enjoy the finer things in life, you simply need to take the time to look at the world differently.  Like this farmhouse cider. It wasn't expensive, but it sure is good. What makes it even better is meeting the man who created it, learning a little about the process of making cider. As you talk, you get an idea about the man and if he's kind of sharp but mellow, that's kind of the way his ciders will taste- sweet or dry. The mellow, happy former dairyman who now makes nothing but cider in his retirement years--you guessed it--sweet or dry, his cider is smooth and very likeable. This is something that any person can experience. The sharp but mellow guy? Mick Jagger's brother is his next door neighbor. Mick probably walks across the hedgerow bridge to share a pint and perhaps take a few liters back with him when he's in the neighborhood. I seem to be meeting lots of people who are living life richly,  and thus well.  Next time you see a roadside fruit stand at a farm, stop and buy a couple of peaches or a jar of Aunt Mae's preserves. Talk to them about their farm. Value them and you add value to yourself. 

Me, I think I will have another glass of cider and think of how lucky I am to have married the Most Interesting Man I Know.

I won big.