“OH thE wAys And dAys wE will stAnd in A linE, WE will stAnd in A linE TimE AftEr TimE.” Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book, doesn’t it? Take just a moment and think about ALL THE TIMES you have stood in a line… Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! …which IS actually a REAL Dr. Seuss book and one of my favorites because it contains one of Dr. Seuss’s solid-gold morals, the joy of letting one’s imagination rip.

OK… the cat’s out of the bag (no pun intended), NOW you all know where I get my inspiration… from Dr. Seuss and lots of caffeine. Which reminds me… if you want to have some fun at a party, pull out a Dr. Seuss book and read it aloud as fast as you can. Trust me… belly laughing will ensue.

 Let’s get back to standing in lines. Seriously now, just take a moment and think about ALL THE TIMES you have stood in a line… just waiting. Here are a few that came to MY mind.

I have waited in a line: to purchase groceries; to be served at popular restaurants; to be attended to in a bank; at stop signs and traffic signals; at amusement parks; to see a play or film; to see the doctor; to get a drink at the pub (unless I knew the bartender); to use the bathroom; to go through security at the airport… I could go on and on and on.

Sooo… how much of our life is spent waiting… OR standing in line? In 70 years of life, the average person spends at least three (3) years just waiting (standing in line). And just for fun… here’s one that will blow your socks off. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube. “Wow! Wow! And Triple Wow!”

So, what prompted me to have such esoteric thoughts on this Monday? Well… besides my Monday morning routine of getting lost in my view of the ocean and letting my “imagination rip,” let me tell you.

We had some friends over for dinner this past weekend who have lived in Nosara, Costa Rica for about 15 years now. They have many stories to tell and some amazing experiences to share. One of these stories was about phone service 15 years ago. In Nosara, there were four (4) phones in town that were shared by everyone here. YES… you heard me correctly, FOUR (4) phones TOTAL for the entire town to use. Can you imagine the lines at those phones? I’ll bet the people who were here in Nosara at that time are up to about 3 ½ years of standing in lines. My friend, Jane, said she used to make a list of her phone calls each week and plan her visit to one of the four (4) phone locations. Unbelievable!

Many of you reading this blog right now probably don’t remember the days when cell phones did not exist. And you definitely don’t recall the days when there was ONLY one (1) phone in a house. Oh, I can hear the teenagers screaming now, “how did you survive without a cell phone OR the internet AND there was just ONE PHONE? OMG, I would have just died.” LOL…

As I’ve mentioned in other blog posts, simplicity is the key to life and it’s one of the reasons we’re here in Costa Rica – to simplify our lives. In the short time we’ve been here, we’ve already experienced that there is very little we need to be happy, to truly connect with one another, and to have fun.

“The simplest things are often the truest.” –Richard Bach

Pura Vida,

John